Spiced Apple Butter Cookies

Winter's a week away.  Can you believe it?

Central Pennsylvania's been attempting winter in fits and starts for several weeks already.  We had a lovely little dusting of snow back around Thanksgiving.  No sunshine since then, though.  I've had to make my own sunshine by spending my free time either in the kitchen or with friends.  Ahhh, such a life.  

My holiday gift-giving this year is entirely food -- sweet pickles, apple butter, and homemade wine (recipes to follow).  Oh, and cookies!  When I got an email in October about the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, I just knew I had to be a part.  Cookies in exchange for donating to a great cause, and an excuse to use up some leftover apple butter?  Yes yes yes!  

There was more than once that I nearly chased the delivery truck down the street while waiting for my cookies to arrive.

I was lucky enough to receive jam and hazelnut snowballs Carrie at Fresh from Oregon, red velvet cookies Lynna from Hearts in My Oven, and brown butter shortbread cookies from Sara at Confectionary Tales of a Bakeaholic.  I mean, can you even believe how beautiful these are?

They were a perfect mix.  I'm only a little ashamed to say I lived entirely on cookies for a while there.

How did I pick which cookies to send?  Well, to be frank I was shooting for something that was warming without being too sweet.  I'm not big on sweets and I just happened to have about four quarts of apple butter sitting around, so I tweaked the pumpkin molasses cookies from last year.  The result was chewy, soft, and almost reminiscent of an apple quickbread in bite-sized form.  If you like your cookies to lean to the sweet side, consider rolling them in (or dusting them with) cinnamon and sugar and/or adding mix-ins such as apple chunks or cinnamon chips.  You could also try a maple, ginger, or brown sugar glaze for an extra little sumthin'.  You have my permission to be creative!

Apple Spice Cookies

Total Time: 15 minutes to mix, 45-60 to refrigerate, 12-14 to bake, 10 to cool.
Yield: 45 cookies (1 TBS dough portions)

Ingredients:

• Wet Ingredients
• 0.5 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 TBS cream cheese, room temperature
• can sub: neufchâtel or mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 0.25 cup molasses
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup apple butter
• Dry Ingredients
• 2.75 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• can increase to 2 tsp if you want a stronger flavor
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp allspice

Directions

1. Use a large mixing bowl to beat together the butter and cream cheese until they form a fluffy paste.
2. Add the sugar and cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar together until they form a thick paste.
3. Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla to the bowl and beat until mixed well.
4. Beat in the apple butter and set the bowl aside.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients until well-combined and no lumps remain.  
6. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and gently mix the two together by hand until the flour just disappears.  Be careful not to overmix!
7. OPTIONAL:  if adding apple chunks or cinnamon chips, stir them in gently at this point.
8. Wrap the bowl and place it in the fridge for 45-60 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 350F.
10. Remove the dough from the fridge.  
11. Use a 1 TBS scoop to portion out dough balls.  Place dough balls several finger-widths apart, as they spread out quite a bit (~12-15 per baking sheet).
12. OPTIONAL:  if desired, used wet fingers to gently roll the balls into a uniform shape and/or dip them in cinnamon and sugar.
13. Bake 12-14 minutes, turning the tray 180 degrees halfway through.
14. Allow to cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet.
15. OPTIONAL: frost or glaze after cookies have cooled completely.

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Let's walk through it step by step!

First off is beating the butter and cream cheese together.

Once they form a fluffy paste, you're all set.

Put the sugar in the bowl next.

It will be difficult to photograph, but don't worry.

Next, beat the sugar & butter mix together until it forms a thick paste.  This process is called "creaming" the butter and sugar, and it's the basis for just about every cookie ever.

Next are the vanilla, egg, and molasses:

I kind of love that photo.  It's such a mess.

Mix all that up into a wet goo.

And then let the apple butter join the party.

I made the apple butter at home, recipe to follow shortly (short version: cook applesauce to death).   Most orchards and a number of grocery stores carry it, usually somewhere near the jams or peanut butter.  

Anyway, mix all that up and set it aside. 

Now, in a separate bowl, whisk together all your dry ingredients.

You can double the cinnamon if you want (or all the spices, for that matter), assuming you like a very strong flavor in your cookies.  I'd love to suggest that you start with the original amount to start and then scale it up according to your tastes, but don't let me hold you back.

Next, the wet ingredients get added to the dry.  

Mix by hand.  Gently!  Only stir it until the flour juuuuust disappears.  You want to almost err on the side of undermixed, though there shouldn't be any flour visible.  If you're putting any add-ins, such as apple chunks or butterscotch chips, do that here.  But again, don't overmix this.  It requires a light hand or you'll end up with tough cookies.

Tough cookies, sweetheart.

I find the dough is too sticky to work with at this point, so I pop it in the fridge for 45-60 minutes.  Ultimately that's optional, I just don't like to fight the dough.  Once it's cool, fire up the oven and use a 1 TBS cookie scoop (or just a measuring spoon) to portion out dough balls onto a greased sheet, parchment, or silpat.

If you like uniform, smooth cookies you can use wet fingers to gently roll them into rounds, but it's not necessary.  You can also sprinkle cinnamon & sugar over them, or dip / roll them if you want.  I'm not big on sugar so I don't, but it's your choice.  (Seriously, it's choose your own adventure with these!)

Be sure to leave plenty of space between cookies, 'cause they spread.  I can fit about 12-15 on a tray.  Whatever doesn't make it into the oven goes back into the fridge between batches, 'cause the dough warms up quickly.

They typically take about 12-14 minutes at 350.  At around 6-7 minutes, turn the tray 180 degrees so that they bake evenly.

They're gonna smell pretty divine, let me tell you.

They're fantastic warm, but do try to let them cool for 10 minutes before burning your mouth on them.  If you're going to glaze or frost them, wait until they're completely cool or you'll end up with a mess.

Voila!  They stay chewy for several days and freeze well.  Or you can pack them up and mail 'em off to your cookie swap partners.  

Bawstin Baked Beans

I don't think it would be a stretch to say that every person out there holds the belief that their own corner of the world is in some way unique.  I even talked a little on the post about Morioka jajamen about how each town in Japan has something it considers itself famous for.

New England is unique, I think, in that it's an entire region that bands around a single city.  It's not to say that there aren't other cities in that corner of the States.  It's just that we all think of Boston as The City.  Our City.  Even if you're closer to some other metro area, or if you differ politically or culturally from its harsh, young, aloof, diverse, gruff, open-hearted way of life, Boston's the rally point.  Boston sports are New England sports.  Boston tragedies are New England tragedies.  So whether or not we personally knew anyone running in or helping at the marathon, we all felt that Our City had been hurt when the bombings happened.  And why, a year later, so many of my New Englander friends each took a moment to reflect in our own way.

Me, I laced up and went for a run in the morning, then came home and fired up the stove.

It may not surprise you that I have a strong connection with food.  It's my main conduit for both self-comfort and celebration -- whether I'm exuberant or grieving, food is how I express and share my feelings.  Like any number of other fat chicks out there, I eat my emotions.

So it's probably not a shock that on a sad day, the first anniversary of the Boston marathon bombings, I was feeling a little homestate pride (for our resilience) but also a great deal of grief (specifically for the victims and more broadly that there are people in the world who feel that violence is a potential avenue of expression for their anger or their beliefs).

At any rate, Boston + comfort food means one of three things:  chowdah, beans, or donuts.  Doc wasn't in a seafood mood and donuts are not very nutritious, so I put my energies into making baked beans.

The nice thing about baked beans is that they're actually super easy to make.  These work 100% as well in a slow-cooker, too, so that's an option for sure.

A more detailed description follows the recipe below.  Enjoy!

Bawstin Baked Beans

Total time:  Overnight soaking for the beans, 10-15 minutes to assemble, 4-6 hours of cooking.
Credits:  The bulk of the credit goes to A Family Feast, whose recipe for the sauce is spectacular.  Other recipes that contributed ideas are The Pioneer Woman (if it goes in cast iron, I look her up first as a rule), and of course the Boston Globe.
Note:  This recipe as-is makes a monstrous batch, enough to fill my 5-quart dutch oven.   Happily, it can very, very easily be halved or even quartered.  What I'd recommend in that case is keeping the sauce proportions the same while adjusting the amount of beans, onions, bacon, and cooking liquid.





Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. (4 cups) dried navy beans
• can sub: other white beans, but definitely don't stray into kidney bean, pinto bean, or black bean territory.  You want a small, white bean for this.
• Water for soaking, enough to cover the beans + another 3-4 inches
• note:  be sure to reserve some of the liquid after soaking!
• 3 onions, cut into thick rings or semi-circles
• 1 pound thick-cut bacon, the thicker the better
• can sub: salt pork, if desired, or if avoiding pork then possibly a smoked turkey wing or a very small amount of liquid smoke (or leave it out altogether).
• For the sauce:
• 1 bottle (12 oz.) Sam Adams Boston Lager
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 0.5 cup molasses
• 2 TBS real maple syrup
• 3 TBS dijon mustard
• 0.5 cup ketchup
• 2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 0.5 cup brown sugar
• 0.25 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 TBS garlic paste 
• can sub: 4-5 whole/minced cloves of garlic or 1 tsp dried garlic powder

Directions:

1. Soak beans overnight in enough water to cover them plus 3-4 inches of water on top.
2. In the morning drain the beans and reserve the soaking liquid in a separate bowl.
3. Layer bacon, onions, and beans in a dutch oven or slow cooker, making 2-3 total layers.
4. Whisk together all the sauce ingredients and pour over the beans/bacon/onion mixture.
5. If the beans aren't completely covered by the sauce, add enough of the reserved soaking liquid (from step 2) so that the beans are completely covered.
6. If using a dutch oven:  place the lid on the pot and put it the oven at 325 degrees (F).  Bake 4-6 hours, checking every hour for doneness and to make sure that the beans are completely covered with liquid.  In the last hour of baking, remove the cover, stir, and turn the heat down to 300 so that the sauce can thicken up.
7. If using a slow cooker:  set heat to high and cook for 4-6 hours or until done.  Leave the lid on until the final hour, then remove lid, stir, and leave lid off so that some of the liquid can evaporate off to thicken up the sauce.
8. Beans are done when they are easily chewed but not mushy.  Cooking time will depend on the age/dryness of the beans.

Goes well with:  brown bread, coleslaw, and Sam Adams Boston Lager

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The thing about Bawstin, you guys, is that people theah sound a little different.  So you'll hafta fahgive my spellin' heah, is my point.  If ya havin' trouble, ask a local oah consult a guide.

Fihst things fihst: ya gawtta soak ya beans ovahnight.  That way the'ah easiah ta cook -- you ain't gawt awl day fah this nawnsense, ya know?  Plus it helps relieve somma the gases in the beans.  Bettah out than in, in this case.

Er... that's exhausting to read, isn't it?  I know it's exhausting to write.  Let's move on.  I'm not from Boston itself anyway so I'm not fooling anyone anyhow.

It's important when you drain the beans to save the liquid they were soaking in.  Set it aside because you'll be using this a little later on.

When you're ready to get started with the cooking phase, you've got two options: dutch oven or slow cooker.  These amount to exactly the same thing, since either way you're using a large dish heated to around 300 degrees for several hours.  Totally up to you.  More liquid will cook off in the oven, making for a thicker sauce, but it does heat up the house and -- if you're like me -- a slow cooker is something I'm willing have running while I'm out of the house whereas I don't like to leave the oven on unless I'm around.  It's really up to you and your needs.  I used a dutch oven here, but the exact same process applies for the slow cooker.  What we're going to do is make layers: bacon, onions, beans, repeat.

Bacon:

Onions, followed by beans (a complete layer, not just a handful as shown in the picture):

And repeat:

And, if space and supplies allow, repeat again:

You're free to use whatever you've got handy, but if I can make a suggestion I'd recommend thick-cut bacon.  Some recipes even call for salt pork.

The onions also should be fairly thick.  They'll caramelize in the sauce so it's nice to be able to get a taste of them.  Too small and they won't stand out.  Either whole or half-rings should do it.

Once your layers are all set, whisk up all the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl.

You can leave out the beer if you don't like it.  I used it to replace the vinegar in A Family Feast's recipe, since Samuel Adams Boston Lager is almost as symbolic of Boston as the Gahden or tea pahties.  It's so near and dear to locals' hearts that it's not unusual to hear sentences such as, "hey, Sean, bang a uey heah, I gawta runda tha packie for Sam."

Once everything's whisked together it doesn't look all that wonderful.  And it's strangely reflective.

I assure you it's very tasty, though.

Pour the sauce over the beans.

It's unlikely that the sauce will be enough to cover your beans completely.  Here's where the bean-soaking liquid you reserved earlier comes into play.  Use that to top off the pot so that the beans are completely covered with liquid:

And then you're ready to cook.  If you're using a dutch oven, cover it and pop it in your oven at 325F.  If you're using a slow-cooker, switch it on to high.

Depending on how old/dry/cantankerous your beans are, cooking them could take anywhere from 4-6 hours (or more).  It's not a bad idea to plan on a minimum of six.  Check the pot every hour to make sure there's enough liquid to cover the beans.  Add in reserved bean liquid as needed.

This is at the 2-hour mark.  You can see where I put a cookie sheet underneath to catch drips since I'd filled my dutch oven pretty full.

You'll know the beans are nearly done when they're al dente -- when you can bite into them easily but they've got a little resistance still.  At that point you've got about an hour left, meaning it's time to take the lid off, stir, and leave the lid off so that the sauce can thicken up.  This applies both to slow cooker and oven methods.  If using the oven, turn the heat down to 300.

After about five hours my beans were ready to stir and put them back in for the final hour at lower heat.

I forgot to get an "after" shot once I'd taken the beans out of the oven.  Apologies.  It looked a lot like the above, but thicker and a little darker.  One thing to remember is that if you want a super thick sauce you'll have to let it sit overnight in the fridge:  it's the cooling process that makes for a really thick sauce (thanks to the oil from the bacon congealing).

(Yeah, I'm grossed out, too.)

Some people thicken their sauce with cornstarch.  It works, but I find then all I can taste is cornstarch.

Anyway, that's it!  Soak, layer, bake, stir, serve.

I find it goes really well with brown bread, coleslaw, and some Sam.

Pumpkin-Molasses Ginger Chews

There are some recipes that have childhood and comfort written all over them.  For me, my grandmother's molasses cookies are near the top of the list.  They make me think of holidays and home.  They're chewy and soft, with a snap of ginger that's perfect to warm you up on a snowy day.

Yesterday we got the first - and possibly only - substantial snowfall of the year.  Last year we shoveled all of once.  I think we did twice the year before that; usually whatever dusting we do get melts off the driveway by noon.  Though I can't say I miss the work, this New England girl does miss the unique stillness of a snowstorm.  There's something about snowstorms that makes me feel like everything is on hold.  Errands can't be run.  I can't be called in to work.  There are no priorities other than staying cozy and safe at home.  And, in yesterday's case, hop into the holiday apron Gram made me & bake some cookies.

Isn't this adorable?  Gram's so creative.

These are excellent holiday cookies.  Heck, they're excellent year-round cookies.  My Gram's original recipe didn't call for pumpkin, but I figure it not only gives me an excuse to sneak a little Vitamin A & C into Doc, but also lets me use up some of the pumpkin puree I had from the half-dozen we grew in the garden this year.  Or, truth be told, grew all over the yard.  Pumpkin vines sure do run amuck.

Our cookie jar was so lonely!

I've heard that subbing in vegan alternatives for butter & cream cheese, dropping the egg, and subtracting about a quarter cup of flour is all it takes to make this recipe vegan-friendly.  Probably makes it a lot healthier, too.  I haven't done it that way myself, though, so I can't vouch for it personally.  Drop a note in the comments if it works for you, or if you have other tips!

As always, a short version of the recipe is at the bottom.

Pumpkin-Molasses Ginger Chews

To start off, grab yourself two bowls and at least one whisk.  If you've got a mixer, attach the wire beater.  That is, unless you have an edge-scraping beater.  My mom just got me one for an early Christmas present and it is brilliant.

How did no one invent this sooner?

Okay, so in the first mixing bowl you're going to add half a cup of butter and 1 tablespoon of cream cheese.  Both the butter and the cream cheese should be room temperature.  I just leave them out the night before when I go to bed and they're set by morning.  If you wanted to set them out before work that'd do the trick, too.  The cream cheese isn't totally vital.  I add it in because of the molasses and sugar - the richness and slight tang of the cream cheese helps to temper the sweetness.

Mix them together so that they're like a fluffy paste.  Err on the side of too cold rather than too warm.  Too warm and your cookies will come out melty.  Think the kind of whipped butter you get at fancy restaurants.  What we're going to do is suspend the sugar in the butter (requires cold), rather than dissolve it (requires heat).

There we go!

Next up is one cup of sugar.  White sugar, here.  I've tried palm sugar in the past and it came out too sweet and a little gritty.  In this batch I used cane sugar from Trader Joe's.

Mixing the sugar into the butter is called "creaming" them, and is the basis for pretty much every cookie ever.  Blend it up for a few seconds until you get a thick dough base.

Next is one egg.

Beat again.  You'll find it's a bit smoother now.

Next are 1/4 cup of molasses and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Beat that up with everything else, and now the dough will start to be the right color for molasses cookies.

Last bit.  One cup of pumpkin.  You can use canned, that's no biggie.  I'd frozen one-cup portions of pumpkin puree from our garden pumpkins.  I love having it on hand in smallish portions, 'cause I rarely am able to use up an entire can of pumpkin.

This is so, so convenient.  Give it a try when pie pumpkins are in the store.

Beat that in as well.  That'll make your dough really liquidy again.  If you're using fresh pumpkin the acidity might cause a little clotting of the dairy.  Don't panic.  It'll all come together when you add the flour.

It'll be okay.  I promise.

Now, if you happen to have some ginger paste on hand, add one tablespoon of ginger paste to the batter.  (Seriously, is there anything those pastes can't do??)  If you haven't got ginger paste, then just take a lap.  We'll put in spices in just a minute.

Double-check this isn't garlic paste or you'll be so, so sad later.

Okay, so now your "wet" batter is set.  Put that mixing bowl aside.  Since I only have one bowl for my mixer, I did the "dry" ingredients together by hand.  It's not hard, I promise.  First is 2.75 cups of flour. You can sift if you really want to, but 60 seconds with a whisk is sufficient to knock out any lumps.

It's so fluffy!

To this add:  2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon allspice.  Now, IF you didn't add ginger paste, add in 1.5 teaspoon ginger powder here.  Do not add both ginger paste and ginger powder.  Pick one.  I prefer the fresh ginger, but it's up to you and what you have on hand.

Whisk that all up together and then add it to the wet ingredients.  

Whether you're mixing it by hand or in a mixer, go slow.  It'll only take a very short amount of time before you stop seeing flour.  The second it's a single mass and not a wet mass plus a dry one, then you're done.  Overmixing is going to make the cookies tough rather than cakey.  And that's all it really takes to make the dough!

Grab either a measuring tablespoon or - my preference - a one tablespoon cookie scoop.  

Looove this thing!

Be sure to give yourself plenty of space between cookies.  These things spread out more than you'd expect.  The nice thing about the cookie scoop is that it helps you to pile the dough up high.  That'll help you get cookies that are puffy rather than pancakey.

Tip:  Using parchment paper will save you from trying to scrape these off the cookie sheet later.

Small, tall, with lots of space between.  Them's the rules.

In a 350(F) degree oven, pop the cookies in and set the timer for 6 minutes.  When it goes off, take an oven mitt and rotate the pan 180 degrees (as in, turn it around).  This helps the cookies bake evenly, since even the best of ovens have spots that are hotter or cooler.  Close the oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes.  In other words, you're baking for a total of 12 minutes, plus or minus a minute or two.

Halfway there!

My first batch come out in exactly 12 minutes, the second required 13, and the last batch took 15.  I also let my dough get too warm between batches, which is why the last few were melty-looking (as you'll see below).

Here's a confession:  I have never, ever had a recipe come out where I had exactly an even number of servings.  Somehow, beyond all chance, I wound up with precisely 3 trays of 15 cookies each.  Couldn't do it again if I tried.

Upper left, see how they're getting kind of flat and squished into one another?  

I shoulda put the dough in the fridge between batches.

Now, you can definitely put all three sheets in the oven at once.  I find I get impatient and like to have one pan in while I scoop out the next tray, but it's not necessary to do it that way.  It's just a personal quirk.  I'm telling you that so that you can understand that by the time I took the above photo with all 45 cookies, I'd had hot, fresh ones on hand for half an hour that I did not eat, just so you could see how much this recipe makes.  You're welcome.

They came out so cakey!  Perfection!

These are truly superb with a little spot of tea.

Next up:  Egg curry, followed by Japancakes.  Gonna be a fun week!

Pumpkin-Molasses Ginger Chews - The Concise Recipe

Makes 45 cookies.

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature (not melted)
• 1 tablespoon cream cheese, also room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste (can substitute 1.5 teaspoons ginger powder in dry ingredients instead)

Dry Ingredients

• 2.75 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and cream cheese until a fluffy paste forms.
3. Cream butter/cream cheese and sugar together.
4. Beat in molasses, vanilla, pumpkin, and ginger paste (if using).  Set wet ingredients aside.
5. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.  If using ginger powder instead of ginger paste, add that to the flour mixture with the other spices.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing gently until the dry ingredients are just barely combined with the wet.  No flour should be showing.  Be cautious not to overmix.
7. Place one tablespoon portions of batter onto a lined cookie sheet, spacing at least 2 inches apart.  
8. Bake 10-14 minutes at 350, rotating the pan halfway.