Rustic Molasses Cookies with Garam Masala
Well, folks it looks like we are down to the home stretch for the year. I have spent the weekend baking cookies and printing holiday cards. Both for me are annual rituals for me this time of the year. I love to find a couple of new cookie recipes to join the mix that I have. Especially those which pass my idiot proof simple baking muster. These Rustic Molasses cookies are one such!
Love for Natural Sweeteners
I am a huge fan of working with simple natural sweeteners. Think maple syrup or dark muscavado sugar and of course my all time favorite molasses. I am very partial to the black strap variety. It’s rich depth of flavor is guaranteed to provide you with an abundance of minerals. Most notably iron and calcium. I realize cookies are all about indulgence. A little bit of goodness is the icing on the cake.
About the Garam Masala
Add garam masala to the mix, which I have done with some hesitation and reserve work well. In this case I have balanced the garam masala with an additional dose of fennel. It rounds off the flavors beautifully. Garam masala has become quite the magic spice. It is now used in all things sweet and savory. When done right and handled well, it is indeed a well-balanced spice. With all its nuances of fragrant and gentle spice notes it certainly is perfect for winter baking.
I am still waiting to try it in a sweet potato or pumpkin pie. Maybe I will save that for next weekend as a sweet peace offering for the brother. Well, it was good enough for the first presidential dinner hosted by a young and optimistic president.
It is an immensely nuanced and effective spice, when done and used right. Please do try to avoid using a pre-made mixture, here is a video that I have attached that will help you mix and make your own Garam Masala. If you must buy a pre-ground mixture, try to find a local purveyor who will most likely have spices that are fresher than the commercial varieties.
Now back to the cookie, it really is all about the nuance of spices and good quality molasses. My version of these cookies is made with whole wheat pastry flour and relatively low in sugar, if you like it sweeter you might want to notch up the sugar content.
A chewy well seasoned cookie brimming with the rustic goodness of molasses and whole wheat flour.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
- 11/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon ground fennel
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup butter well softened, plus extra for greasing
- ¼ cup blackstrap molasses
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Sift together the flour and baking soda. Stir in the ground fennel, garam masala powder and the salt.
- Grease the cookie sheet and heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl beat the butter, molasses, sugar until light and fluffy.
- Gradually add in the egg and the flour mixture in small amounts mixing well until thoroughly incorporated.
- Shape the mixture into small walnut shaped balls, flatten and place about 2 inches apart.
- Place in the oven for about 12 minutes. Cool, remove from the sheet and enjoy just slightly warm.
Uma Dandapani
Liked your recipe for Rustic Molasses cookies and garam masala. Will try it.
Sarah Altwater
Great article! I recently received RawSpiceBar’s indian spices- garam masala and tandoori spices for making chicken tikka masala and it was pretty spot on. It’s tough to find freshly ground kashmiri chiles and other high quality hard to find spices. Look forward to receiving next month’s spice blends from them and worth looking into if you’re an adventurous cook.
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