Baking Really Is a Science: Chocolate Molasses Cookies

As cooler weather set in with the arrival of fall, I was in the mood for some cozy cookies and decided to try Buttermilk By Sam's recipe for Chocolate Molasses Cookies. While the combination of cocoa and molasses sounded warm and delicious, what really drew me in was the beautiful photos of the cookies with their wide, dramatic cracks. They just looked so inviting. The cookies are made with egg yolks only, and Sam describes them as chewy and bendy. I was instantly sold.

The recipe is straightforward and requires to resting or chilling time. You beat softened butter with salt, vanilla, and brown sugar until light and fluffy; add molasses; mix in egg yolks; and add sifted flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. I used a #24 scoop to portion out the dough and got 19 cookies from a batch. I rolled each cookie in sanding sugar before baking.

After putting the first pan of cookies was in the oven, I started cleaning up and realized that I had used baking powder instead of baking soda. I immediately realized this would be a problem, because the baking powder would not neutralize the acid in the molasses the way that baking soda would. The reaction between the baking soda and molasses causes a rapid expansion of the dough, with the subsequent contraction creating the cracks in the cookies. When I pulled the pan out of the oven, I saw cookies with zero cracks that looked absolutely nothing like the cookies pictured with the recipe. They didn't look bad, just boring.

I tasted a cookie shortly after baking and it had a sharp, bitter molasses flavor that was off-putting. It was the most molasses-y cookie I had ever tasted. However, the molasses flavor subsided with time. On the second day, the molasses flavor was still there but not in your face, and by day three, I would have sworn that these were just chocolate cookies. The cookies were not chewy at all (and certainly not "bendy" by any means), but had a texture like a fudgy brownie. I actually thought this was an absolutely delicious cookie after the bitter molasses flavor receded, with a luxurious texture. But it was not what I was going for at all. I intend to try the recipe again with baking powder so I can get the intended result. And this experience was a nice reminder that baking really is a science -- small substitutions, intentional or not, can have a big impact on the results!

 

Recipe: "Chocolate Molasses Cookies" from Buttermilk by Sam.