Molasses Spice Cookies With Dark Rum Glaze

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plus 1/3 c sugar
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon clove
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup molasses light or dark
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons dark rum

Steps:

• Adjust an oven rack to the middle position Heat oven to 375 Spread 1/2 cup sugar in a shallow dish for coating Set aside Whisk the flour
• baking soda
• spices
• pepper and salt together in a large bowl Set aside
• Beat butter
• brown sugar and remaining 1/3 cup sugar together in a large bowl using an elecctric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy
• 3-6 inutes Beat in egg yolk and vanilla until combined
• about 30 seconds Beat in the molasses until incorporated
• about 30 seconds
• scraping down the side of the bowl and bveater as needed
• Reduce mixer speed to low Slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined
• about 30 seconds Dough will be soft Give the dough a final stir with a rubhger spatula to make sure it is combinewd
• Using wet hands
• roll 2 T dough at a time into balls
• then roll in the sugar to coat Lay on two parchment-lined baking sheets
• spaced about 2 inches apart Bake
• one sheet at a tim
• until edges set and tops are cracked but centers are still soft and underdone Peek thru cracks to check centers Its about 10-12 minutes Rotate the baking sheet halfway thru baking
• Let cookies cool on sheet for 10 minutes You can serve them at this point or transfer to a wire rack
• cooling completely before putting on the rum glaze
• To make glaze
• just mix the confectioners sugar and rum together until smooth Drizzle it over the cooled cookies Let set for 10-15 minutes before serving
• NOTE if you want to make these w/o the rum glaze
• you could also use a variation that has orange essence in it Just add 1 t grated orange zest to the dough when you add the molasses Process 2/3 cup sugar with 2 t grated orange zest in a food processor until fragrance
• about 10 seconds Use that for rolling instead of the plain white sugar