Chewy Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I move to a new living space, everything is unfamiliar.  Duh.

I walk into the closet instead of the bathroom.  I reach for the dishwasher when I should be checking on the cookies in the oven.  I stub my toes on the coffee table… a lot.  The sound of the mailman dropping letters in the box is startling.

Soon enough… all of these new home quirks will settle and disappear.

I thought the best way to counteract the newness was to fill my new home with the smell of something entirely familiar:  chocolate chip cookies.

It worked.  I only stubbed my toe on the coffee table twice instead of thrice.

Ps…. Maybe this entire post was just an excuse to work the word ‘thrice’ onto my blog. Hmmm…  think on that.

By now you probably know that I can’t leave well enough alone.

I wouldn’t just make plain old chocolate chip cookies and dump them in your lap.

See, I’m calling these Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies because I’ve made my own brown sugar and added a good, hearty load of dark, unsulphured molasses.  It’s sexy.  Seriously.

I also used melted butter (instead of the traditional softened butter) and bread flour (instead of all-purpose flour).  This combination comes from Alton Brown.  He knows a thing or two.  The higher gluten content in bread flour helps keep the cookie in control.  Buuuut… the loads of molasses keep this cookie well browned and fairly flat.  Keep that in mind.  These flat cookies.are.delicious.

Intermission…

I found this photo during my move last week.  It was taken by my father in 1982.  It seems to be the very beginning of food blogging.

End Intermission.

These slender little cookies bring loads of flavor.  They’re deep.  They’re caramely.  They’re packed with dark chocolate chunks and topped with just a sprinkling of sea salt.  What more do you want?  Yeesh.

In the background there is my front door.  I’ll give you the home (and kitchen) tour soon.