Chewy Cinnamon Molasses Cookies

Alrighty readers, it’s time for a little story. Pull up a chair and grab a cup of coffee… ready?

I started cooking when I was 8 years old. My first dish was actually a full meal for my whole family. Oh heavens was it ahem… interesting! My Mom told me to go make hamburgers, boiled potatoes and green beans one Thursday afternoon.

The back story: Looking back now, I totally understand why she handed the task of cooking dinner over to me at such a young age. My Mom had just had a baby (my little sister Nora), my 16 year old brother, Wayne, was off doing whatever it is that teenaged brothers do after school and my 12 year old sister was no where to be found. She was good at hiding out at her best friends house in order to avoid “baby duty” or, worse yet, kid-sitting for the rest of us. Uh huh, in addition to my big ole 8 year old self there was also my 5 year old sister and 4 year old brother who needed watching in the afternoons so that we didn’t burn the house down or plug the toilets. SO, without the older kids to help her out that day, she was exhausted with baby care and zippy little kid care by the time dinner rolled around.

Needless to say, my first foray into cooking didn’t end well… we had to eat those little gray hockey pucks, the mushy boiled potatoes and boiled till limp green beans. Wayne, my older brother, was my only encouragement that day, and without his “Don’t worry Toni, you’ll get better the more you practice” comment I definitely would have never cooked again. Thank you Wayne!!

Now back to my Chewy Cinnamon Molasses Cookie recipe. Oh yeah, it’s all part of this story and it’s why I just had to include them on this blog! The cookies were my second attempt in the kitchen at 8 years old.

I was pretty darned excited when I worked my way through the recipe, figured out which measuring cups and spoons to use, rolled them in cinnamon sugar that looked just like my Mom’s…

…and then took them out of the oven – they looked PERFECT! All crinkly on the tops, coated with sugar and definitely soft and chewy when I scooped them off the hot trays to cool on the counter.

Ummm, but when I bit into the first one I got a shock. Apparently I had grabbed the sugar for the first 1st cup that the recipe called for. And I must have grabbed the salt container for the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar… ugh! Enter Wayne again. I was weeping and having a little pity party for myself in the kitchen when he and my Dad asked for some of the yummy smelling cookies. I told them they were no good, but they insisted on trying them anyways. My Dad was polite and gagged one down, following it with a huge swig of coffee. I could feel my budding chef heart shriveling inside me, and then Wayne ate one. And two… And THREE! He told me that they weren’t all that bad and that he liked salt.

I know now that he was just trying to make me feel better, but as an 8 year old I believed every word he said. Armed with his encouragement, I headed right back into the kitchen the very next day and whipped up a meatloaf for dinner. It was perfect! Ok, so the brussels sprouts were mushy and the baked potatoes were a wee bit like eating rocks, but the loaf was gorgeous and moist and yummy.

So now you know why I make these chewy cinnamon molasses cookies. They were the jumping off point for me as a cook and they bring back wonderfully poignant memories – of watching my Dad trying not to spit them out and hearing my brother declare that he liked my salty cookies.

Oh and in case you’re wondering, if you don’t put too much salt in them, these cookies are seriously delicious! They’re moist, and chewy, and a bit crunchy on the edges. Just don’t over cook them and don’t let them cool on the pans and you’ll get awesome cookies every time.

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