Molasses Walnut Drop Cookies

(from Ryan77’s recipe box)

Source: Joanne Fluke

Categories: Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/2 cups melted butter
  • 2 cups white (granulated) sugar
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground is best)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cardamom or more cinnamon
  • 41/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
  • Walnut halves to place on top of the cookies before baking if you DO NOT plan to glaze them with Brown Powdered Sugar Glaze. If you DO plan to glaze your cookies, wait until you glaze them to place the walnut halves on top of your cookie

Directions

  1. DO NOT preheat the oven yet. This dough must chill before baking.

  2. Melt the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat it on HIGH for 1 minute. Leave the bowl in the microwave for another minute and then check the butter after to see it’s melted. If it’s not, give it more time, in 20-second increments, until it is.

  3. Take the bowl out of the microwave and mix in the white sugar. Mix until it’s all combined.

  4. Add the molasses to the bowl and mix it in. (Coat the measuring cup with nonstick cooking spray to help the molasses slide out.

  5. Mix until it’s thoroughly incorporated.

  6. Let the butter, sugar, and molasses mixture sit on the counter while you get out the eggs.

  7. When the mixture in the bowl is not so hot it’ll cook the eggs, add them to the large bowl and stir them in thoroughly. Be sure to mix until they’re well combined.

  8. Sprinkle in the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Mix until all the ingredients are well combined.

  9. Add the flour in one-cup increments, mixing after each addition.

  10. Mix in the chopped walnuts. If this is too difficult with a spoon, simply add the walnuts to the top of your mixing bowl and knead them in as you would if you were making bread.

  11. Once the walnuts have been added and are incorporated into the cookie dough, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours. (Overnight is even better.)

  12. When you’re ready to bake, take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit, still covered with the plastic wrap, on your kitchen counter. It will need to warm just a bit so that you can work with it.

  13. Preheat your oven to 350°F, rack in the middle position.

  14. While your oven is heating to the proper temperature, prepare your cookie sheets. You can either spray them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or line them with parchment paper.

  15. Remove the plastic wrap from your cookie dough. Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls with your impeccably clean hands and place them on a prepared cookie sheet, 12 dough balls to a standard-size sheet.

  16. Press walnut half down into the top of each dough ball.

  17. Mix in the chopped walnuts. If this is too difficult with a spoon, simply add the walnuts to the top of your mixing bowl and knead them in as you would if you were making bread.

  18. Once the walnuts have been added and are incorporated into the cookie dough, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours. (Overnight is even better.)

  19. When you’re ready to bake, take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit, still covered with the plastic wrap, on your kitchen counter. It will need to warm just a bit so that you can work with it.

  20. Preheat your oven to 350°F, rack in the middle position.

  21. While your oven is heating to the proper temperature, prepare your cookie sheets. You can either spray them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or line them with parchment paper. (The parchment paper is more expensive, but easier in the long run. If you use it, you can simply pull the paper over to the wire cooking rack, cookies and all. It’s also easier to glaze the cookies if they’re still on the parchment paper.)

  22. Remove the plastic wrap from your cookie dough. Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls with your impeccably clean hands and place them on a prepared cookie sheet, 12 dough balls to a standard-size sheet.

  23. Press walnut half down into the top of each dough ball.

  24. Yield: 6 to 10 dozen (depending on the size of your dough balls) tasty, molasses-infused, and delicious cookies.

  25. Once your cookies have baked and cooled, move them all to parchment paper on your kitchen counter and glaze them with Brown Powdered Sugar Glaze

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