I have a new favorite cookbook: Flour by Joanne Cheng, thanks to my bud Amy who gifted it to me. Flour is an amazing bakery in Boston and is one of Amy's favorites. They have four locations around the city and I sadly haven't been to a single one! Owning one of their two cookbooks will have to suffice for now.

Amy told me that she likes to curl up with a good cookbook sometimes, and that's exactly what I did with Flour the other night. As I paged through, I ogled over each, amazing sounding recipe, mentally adding most to my "must bake and consume soon" list. Not every recipe had a #foodporn picture with it, but when it did, I couldn't look away. Nothing tickles my fancy more than a gorgeous dessert photograph.

After my ogle-fest, I chose to make these Ginger Molasses Cookies first. I liked that the recipe had simple, accessible ingredients and the process wasn't overly complicated. This was my first time working with molasses and my immediate observation was that it smells like death. I almost gagged after I stupidly decided to take a whiff of it. #icannotunsmellthat I was rightfully worried for my cookies, wondering if they would actually be edible. I mean, how could something that smells like a decaying possum taste good? Apparently, if you add enough sugar and butter to a recipe, anything will taste like a dream, and these cookies luckily did. They were big, soft and chewy with subtle spicy notes. It's not one of those smack you in the face ginger cookies. So far, my beloved Flour is a strong 1 for 1!

Flour's Ginger Molasses Cookies
Recipe from Flour by Joanne Cheng
Yield: 16 four inch cookies

Ingredients
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup unsulphured dark molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp ground cloves
Small bowl of granulated sugar for coating

Directions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer, mix together butter, brown sugar, molasses, and egg on low speed for about 20 seconds, until well combined.
2. In a separate medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and cloves until well mixed. Add flour mixture to the butter sugar mixture and stir until ingredients are completely incorporated and evenly mixed.
3. Put mixture in airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight for best results.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and place wire rack in center of oven.
5. Scoop ¼ cup balls of the dough and roll it in the bowl of granulated sugar. Coat completely. Place coated balls on baking sheet prepared with parchment paper about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake for 16-18 minutes until cookies are crackly on top and just barely firm.
7. Let cool on baking sheet for 5-10 minutes then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.
8. Store in airtight container. Can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Dessert Fiend