I thought I had already tasted the best molasses cookie ever made. My mother made excellent Molasses Cookies and Molasses Crinkles have always been a family favorite!
Both cookies are cookies I have been baking for years and years. Cookies I grew up loving. Molasses Cookies I just could not get enough of!
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I did not think you could get any better than those. That is until now. Today I baked the best molasses cookies I have ever eaten. The BEST! (Sorry to shout! But I can't help myself!)
I recently purchased a cookbook entitled Smitten Kitchen Keepers, by Deb Perelman. It is filled with loads of tasty sounding and looking recipes that beg you to try them.
I adapted this cookie recipe from the one found in that cookbook. It's marvelous and if this recipe alone is any indication of the quality of the remaining recipes in the book, I am in for loads of treats!
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These cookies are soft and chewy in the middle and crispy coated with sugar on the outsides. They are spiced beautifully with a wonderful mix of the warm baking spices.
The smell of them baking alone is enough to get your tastebuds tingling and I can promise you, your house will smell beautiful while they are baking!
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I did make a few adaptations to her recipe, but they worked beautifully. First I added some ground cardamom to the spice mix. I have always found that ground cardamom works very well in any kind of gingerbready mix.
Next, I used part molasses and part golden syrup. If you don't have golden syrup, by all means use all molasses. I also chose to use soft light brown sugar instead of dark.
And I may have used a bit more candied ginger than she did. What can I say? I love crystalized ginger. It's one of my favorite things.
I also decided to add 2 tsp of finely grated orange zest. I thought it would work very well with everything else and I can say with absolute veracity, it did!
I also put them together slightly differently than she did. It worked beautifully and there was a bit less faff involved in my opinion.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE THICK MOLASSES SPICE COOKIES
If you have a well stocked baking cupboard you probably have everything you need in the house to make these today!
- 2 1/3 cups (305g) plain all purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup (170g) butter, melted and cooled
- 4 1/2 TBS (100g) molasses
- 2 1/4 TBS (50g) golden syrup
- 2/3 cup (145g) soft light brown sugar
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- 3 TBS (45g) chopped crystalized ginger
- 2 tsp finely grated orange zest
- Demerara (Turbinado) sugar for rolling
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All of these warm baking spices work beautifully together in unison. There is no one flavor that is over-powering. I found myself wondering as I put them together what the flavor of orange zest would be with the remaining flavors.
I just happened to have an orange in my larder and so I went with my inspiration and added some. It was the right decision.
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Don't mix your measurements. Use only the weight or only the imperial. Don't mix both together. I used the weight measurements (much more accurate in my opinion) and these worked out perfectly.
Using the combination of molasses and golden syrup worked very well. They had just the right amount of molasses flavor in my opinion.
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HOW TO MAKE THICK MOLASSES SPICE COOKIES
These are really simple cookies to make. Be prepared to fall in love.
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Set aside.
Put some Demerara sugar (turbinado) into a small bowl. You will need about 6 TBS. (75g)
Whisk together the flour and all of the spices, salt, pepper and baking soda.
Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, molasses, golden syrup, candied ginger, orange zest and egg yolk together in a large bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients. The dough will be thick. Make sure everything is well combined.
Scoop out 1 3/4 TBS of dough at a time. Roll into a ball and then drop into the bowl of sugar. Roll to coat with sugar and place onto the baking sheet. Space evenly, leaving about 2 inches between each.
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Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes. They will look a bit underbaked but be crackled a bit on top. Don't worry, they are baked through. Check to make sure they are lightly browned on the bottom.
Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 8 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Enjoy! Betcha can't eat just one!
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Deb called these her "Forever" molasses cookies. I am calling them my "Happily-Ever-After" molasses cookies. Yes, they are that good!
I can't wait to make them again and try the orange zest addition. I just know it is going to be phenomenal! If you bake only one cookie this week, let it be these!
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Here are a few other Molasses type of cookies from The English Kitchen that you might enjoy:
GINGERDOODLES - The perfect blend of a molasses cookie and a snickerdoodle. Half and half, two doughs rolled together, rolled in cinnamon sugar and then baked to perfection. The best of two worlds!
CHOCOLATE GINGERS - Crisp edges, chewy middles, sugar coated and tastily drizzled with melted semi-sweet chocolate. Chocolate and ginger have a wonderful affinity for each other. These are gorgeous.
Yield: 24
Thick Molasses Spice Cookies
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 30 Min
These are the BEST molasses cookies I have ever baked and eaten. Be warned now, you won't be able to stop at eating just one! Crispy outside, soft and chewy inside.
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cups (305g) plain all purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup (170g) butter, melted and cooled
- 4 1/2 TBS (100g) molasses
- 2 1/4 TBS (50g) golden syrup
- 2/3 cup (145g) soft light brown sugar
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- 3 TBS (45g) chopped crystalized ginger
- 2 tsp finely grated orange zest
- Demerara (Turbinado) sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Set aside.
- Put some Demerara sugar (turbinado) into a small bowl. You will need about 6 TBS. (75g)
- Whisk together the flour and all of the spices, salt, pepper and baking soda.
- Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, molasses, golden syrup, candied ginger, orange zest, and egg yolk together in a large bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients. The dough will be thick. Make sure everything is well combined.
- Scoop out 1 3/4 TBS of dough at a time. Roll into a ball and then drop into the bowl of sugar. Roll to coat with sugar and place onto the baking sheet. Space evenly, leaving about 2 inches between each.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes. They will look a bit underbaked but be crackled a bit on top. Don't worry, they are baked through. Check to make sure they are lightly browned on the bottom.
- Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 8 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Enjoy! Betcha can't eat just one!
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!!
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I had some chicken breasts the other day that I wanted to use up, but I didn't necessarily want to eat them as chicken breasts. Know what I mean? I was wanting to make a kind of a casserole with them. I am a huge fan of the casserole!
I love making and eating casseroles. They are a fabulous opportunity to get rid of the bits and pieces in your refrigerator or larder!
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I had been eyeballing a recipe for a Chicken Enchilada Bake casserole that I had seen in a book I have by Taste of Home, entitled 201 Recipes You'll Make Forever.
How could you possibly resist a cookery book with a name like that. If its a recipe that you'll awnt to make forever, I'll have a piece of that one please!
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I love the Taste of Home Cookbooks. I fell in love with their magazine when it first came out way back when. The recipes were in the form of recipe cards and I used to religiously clip out the ones I liked and popped them into a little metal recipe box I had.
Sadly, I had to leave that behind me in the UK. Kind of a shame really because that small tin recipe box was one that I had had since I was 19 years old. It was a wedding gift from the older woman I used to board with when I had my first job away from home.
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Her name was Mrs. Boates and she lived in an old Victorian house at the top of a steep hill. I rented a bedroom and board in her house when I had my first away from home job. She was such a good cook and made the best Corn Chowder.
She would make me homemade sandwiches for my lunch every day using the loveliest homemade bread. I remember thinking she was a really old lady, but in all reality, I am probably older now than she was then! Funny how that goes!
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Anyways, I digress. This recipe comes from that cookbook. It was posted by Melanie Burns of Pueblo West, CO. The original recipe made enough for 10 people.
I am only one person and so I adapted it to make enough for just two to three hearty servings. I love Tex Mex, and I am sure I could have frozen some of it, but I don't have a lot of space in my freezer at the moment either. If you are wanting to have the full recipe, just ask me and I will be happy to oblidge.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CHICKEN ENCHILADA BAKE
Five simple ingredients simply layered. It doesn't get much easier than this!
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, poached and shredded
- 8 ounces (227g) green enchilada sauce
- 1/3 cup (40g) dairy sour cream
- 3 corn tortillas cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 1/4 cups (163g) shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
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It is very easy to poach your own chicken breasts to use in a recipe such as this one, or you could just use the equivalent of leftover cooked chicken breast meat. To poach them, I just pop them into a saucepan and cover with a mixture of half chicken stock and half water.
Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, then take off the heat and leave to cool in the liquid. Always tender and juicy and perfectly cooked, ready to cube or shred or whatever and really tasty.
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The Green Enchilada Sauce I had was Frontera Green Chili Enchilada Sauce. It comes in just the right size of pouch for this recipe. I buy it at Foodland/Sobey's. Its delicious.
I used pre-grated Jack cheese for expediency. Full fat sour cream, and some corn tortillas I had in the cupboard. I don't think flour tortillas would work that well and might get soggy in the long cook time. I do think that you could use crushed tortilla chips however!
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HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN ENCHILADA BAKE
Nothing could really be easier! I know I say that a lot, but it's true! I am rather lazy and if I can find something that is not only quick and easy to make but delicious, I'm making it!
Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Butter a 4 by 8-inch baking dish.
Whisk the enchilada sauce and sour cream together in a bowl.
Layer half of each of the following into the dish: chicken, sauce mixture, tortillas, cheese. Repeat the layers.
Cover tightly and bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes longer.
Let stand for 15 minutes and then serve.
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I enjoyed mine with a kale salad that I had purchased at the shops. It was the steakhouse flavor with a blue cheese dressing. Ideally it should have been the Mexican one, but I had to use what I had!
It was really tasty. Hearty, cheesy, not overly spicy, rich and delicious. I will make this again sometime in the full version when I am having my sister and Dan over for supper. My father wouldn't like it as he doesn't like anything that is out of the ordinary!
I really hope you will want to give it a go and like I said, if you want the full recipe just let me know! E-mail me or whatever!
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CHICKEN CON QUESO BAKE - A tasty casserole bake loaded with plenty of spicy chicken, cheese and rice in a spicy rich cheesy sauce. Delicious!
EASY MEXICAN CORN CHOWDER - Corn Chowder was something I made frequently for my family when they were growing up. For this recipe, I updated it with some fresh and lively Tex Mex Flavors with most delicious results!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Yield: 2-3
5-Ingredient Chicken Enchilada Bake
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 45 MinInactive time: 15 MinTotal time: 1 H & 10 M
A simple, cheesy southwestern casserole bake. If you like Tex Mex, you will love this!
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, poached and shredded
- 8 ounces (227g) green enchilada sauce
- 1/3 cup (40g) dairy sour cream
- 3 corn tortillas cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 1/4 cups (163g) shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Butter a 4 by 8 inch baking dish.
- Whisk the enchilada sauce and sour cream together in a bowl.
- Layer half of each of the following into the dish: chicken, sauce mixture, tortillas, cheese. Repeat the layers.
- Cover tightly and bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes longer.
- Let stand for 15 minutes and then serve.
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
This recipe for Washington Pie I am sharing today is actually a cake recipe, not a pie. It comes from the pages of an old cookery book of mine. Woman's Day, Old Fashioned Desserts by Barbara Myers.
It is a recipe I have been making for a very long time, however. I first tasted this lovely cake when my friend Leona baked it to serve as a dessert when we were invited to her place back in the early 1980's. We fell in love with it. It's a cake that I baked for my children often when they were growing up.
But how does a cake get called a pie? I was intrigued and so this morning I did a search to find out the history behind this delicious cake.
The recipe made its first appearance around 1850 in Mrs. Putnam's Receipt Book. So people have been baking this cake for almost 200 years now.
But why call it a pie when it's actually a cake? From what I have read, it all boils down to equipment used. In the mid 19th century most home cooks often baked their layer cakes in pie tins resulting in many referring to cakes baked in pie tins as "pies."
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It is actually a cake that is very similar to the traditional Victoria Sandwich Cake. Both are layer cakes and both have those layers sandwiched together with jam.
Both are also dusted with confectioners' sugar rather than being iced.
The Victoria Sandwich cake however is created by creaming together margarine or butter and caster sugar, and then having eggs beaten in, along with a quantity of self-raising flour. Generally speaking, the sugar, eggs, flour and butter are of the same weight. This enables you to bake a Victoria sponge of almost any size quite easily.
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Washington Pie, in contrast, uses white vegetable shortening and much more sugar than its British counterpart. In North American generally this means Crisco and in the UK you would use white flora or a vegetable fat called Trex.
I have to confess I prefer the British version over the North American cake, but both cakes are very good. My tastes have changed since living in the UK for as long as I did. I no longer have the same sweet tooth I had prior to moving over there and find North American desserts and cakes quite sweet in comparison.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE WASHINGTON PIE
Simple everyday baking ingredients. You will also need two 8-inch round layer cake tins.
- 2 cups (249g) sifted cake flour (see note)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1/3 cup (73g) vegetable shortening
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
- 1 large free range egg
For filling and topping:
- Red raspberry preserves
- Icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
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There is no such thing as cake flour as far as I know in the UK. In its place just measure out the flour, removing 1 TBS of flour per cup of flour used (or 2 TBS for this recipe) and then replace it with 2 TBS corn flour/starch.
That's what I did as I didn't have any cake flour in the house.
I think I would prefer to make this cake with butter. I know others have and it works fine. I have lost my taste for shortening through the years, I think. I did do a search to try to find a version where they used only butter but came up short.
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I even checked Rose Levy Berenbaum's cookbook, Rose's Heavenly cakes, and Martha Stewart's Bakig Bible, but there were no Washington Pie Cake recipes in either. I cannot say how it would work with butter rather than shortening.
If you are wanting to make a cake with butter than shortening, I would recommend that you use the Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe. I know that recipe works perfectly. It actually uses equal parts margarine and butter, but I have made it with all butter, and it works.
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HOW TO MAKE WASHINGTON PIE
If the use of shortening doesn't bother you then this is the cake for you! It is really a relatively simple cake to make.
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter and flour 2 (8-inch) round cake tins, tapping out any excess flour.
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the shortening, vanilla and 1/2 cup (120ml) of the milk.
Beat for 2 minutes with an electric whisk, or 300 strokes by hand.
Add the remaining milk and egg. Beat for 2 minutes longer, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Divide the batter between the two prepared pans.
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Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or the tops spring back when lightly touched.
Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then tip out onto the rack and cool completely.
Place one layer (bottom side up) on a plate. Spread generously with jam and then top with the second layer (top side up). Dust with some icing sugar to lightly cover the top.
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I really hope that I haven't put you off this cake with my ponderings on butter versus shortening. This really is a lovely cake. I just find it a bit sweet for my taste. Hasn't stopped me from eating it and enjoying it however!
The mark of a true Glutton!
As you can see it is a very nice cake, light and fluffy with a beautiful crumb. It really doesn't need any frosting in my opinion although I do know some people that frost the top layer only and sprinkle coconut on that. I think it is pretty perfect just as is.
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RASPBERRY YOGURT CAKE - I love cakes which are made with sour cream and yogurt. Adding sour cream or yogurt add moisture and makes for a lovely tender crumb. This is a beautiful cake, with a lovely moist crumb. Its light in texture and filled with pockets of sweet tart raspberries.
FRENCH ALMOND, PEAR & CARDAMOM CAKE - This is a lovely cake, gluten free, loaded with beautiful ripe pears, ground almonds, and I added a touch of ground cardamom as pears and cardamom are such a quintessentially beautiful partnership and marriage of flavors. It is delicious served warm, cut into squares with either lashings of pouring cream or softly whipped cream on top.
Yield: 6 - 8
Washington Pie
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 40 Min
A delicious layer cake which has a layer of sweet jam in the middle and a dusting of icing sugar on top. This is a recipe as old as the hills that I have been making for a very long time.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (249g) sifted cake flour (see note)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1/3 cup (73g) vegetable shortening
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
- 1 large free range egg
For filling and topping:
- Red raspberry preserves
- Icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter and flour 2 (8-inch) round cake tins, tapping out any excess flour.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the shortening, vanilla and 1/2 cup (120ml) of the milk.
- Beat for 2 minutes with an electric whisk, or 300 strokes by hand.
- Add the remaining milk and egg. Beat for 2 minutes longer, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Divide the batter between the two prepared pans.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or the tops spring back when lightly touched.
- Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then tip out onto the rack and cool completely.
- Place one layer (bottom side up) on a plate. Spread generously with jam and then top with the second layer (top side up). Dust with some icing sugar to lightly cover the top.
Notes
You can easily make your own cake flour. Simply remove 1 TBS of the flour per cup and replace with 1 TBS corn flour/corn starch. Whisk well together.
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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