Chewy Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cookies

Today at lunch I had an egg, toast, and a whole bunch of asparagus. As a natural diuretic I could just picture the asparagus doing it’s work – any puffy pregnancy bloat just disappearing magically. Then, during naptime, I realized I could really go for some chewy brown sugar cookies. So I made them. And ate them. Was it worth it? Definitely yes, if only I’d restrained myself to one or two.

Chewy cookies are my absolute favorite. I’d pass on cake every day (and twice on Sundays) for a dish of ice cream and a warm, chewy cookie. These freeze as sugar coated dough balls OR as whole, baked cookies. Easy measurement amounts to double and simple enough to pull together.

As you read over the ingredients you’ll see the butter needs to be softened and the eggs need to be room temperature. Ideally this means they should both sit out at room temp for at least 30 minutes, if not an hour or two. It’s rare I’ll remember to take them out ahead of time, and here are two sneaky time saving tricks I implement all the time. For the eggs, just place them in a bowl of warm water and let sit until you’re ready to use them. Change the water once if necessary. For the butter – and again I should say, room temperature softening is IDEAL – you can microwave in 10 second increments, putting your microwave on 50% power. Microwave, then flip, and microwave at 50% for another 5 seconds. This should yield few to no soft spots but overall softened butter. If you screw up and melt it, there’s no re-hardening in the fridge. Use the previously melted butter for toast and grab a new stick.

Simply delicious, these cookies were a big hit in my house and half the batch is frozen for the next time I get a craving. They taste exactly like Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, but chewy. Tessa ate two in record time. Only her momma had her beat.

Chewy Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cookies

Makes about 30 cookies

1 3/4 c. all purpose

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

10 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

1 1/3 c. brown sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 egg yolk, room temperature

1 tsp. molasses

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. white sugar, for rolling

1. Whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

2. Cream butter and brown sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until combined.

3. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add yolk – beat until combined.

4. Add molasses and vanilla – beat until combined.

5. Add flour mixture all at once and beat on low speed until just barely mixed.

6. Transfer batter to a piece of plastic wrap and pull up the sides, wrapping batter into a disk. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.

8. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar to coat. Place on baking sheet, 2 inches apart.

9. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until surface is cracked and edges are golden.

10. Cool five minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.

 

Notice the egg and butter cartons in the back? I recycle paper and keep the recycling in the back room, but when I’m cooking I just chuck things back there.