Spicy Molasses Sandwich Cookies

Not that I needed an excuse to share these, but did you know that today is National Cookie Day? I confess that I think pretty much every day is cookie day, but I won’t hesitate to celebrate. The thing about cookies is that you can have one and call it a sensible dessert. Or you can overindulge and call them breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not that I’ve done that. I usually get at least one real meal in on a cookie day 😉

I love citrus mixed with a molasses cookie. Until I made these, my favorite way to have molasses cookies was topped with a lemon glaze. These cookies are right up there with chocolate/peppermint in terms of being season-appropriate. They are spicy and warm, but also cool and fresh. Like any good molasses cookie, these are lightly crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Fresh from the oven, they are soft and taste as warm as they smell. The addition of pepper gives them an extra hit of spiciness (fresh ginger would be great in these too!), and the orange creme in the middle cools them down perfectly. These cookies are so good that Tony even had one for breakfast today, and if you know Tony, you know he is not a dessert before “real food” kind of guy. I know; I don’t understand either.


I used finely ground black pepper, like the kind you use in a shaker. I would highly recommend not using cracked pepper – wrong texture and flavor. I also think these would be great with lemon, but I just bought a thing of orange oil, and so I’ve been coming up with ways to use it. If you’re really afraid of the combo, stick with plain old cream cheese frosting. Speaking of frosting, this amount of cookies uses about half of the frosting. You can double up the cookies or freeze the extra frosting for a later date. Or you could make half the frosting, but it just doesn’t seem worth the mess to me 😉

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter-flavored shortening (or use butter if you want flatter/crisper/chewier cookies)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 ounces unsalted butter
4 ounces cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons orange oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream shortening and sugars. Beat in molasses and then egg. Stir in one cup of flour and the rest of the dry ingredients, and then stir in the remaining flour. Roll into 1-inch balls and place two inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes. Cookies should have cracked, and the interior will still be a bit shiny. Let cool on cookie sheets a couple minutes before cooling completely on wire racks.
While cookies are finishing cooling, make filling:
Cream together butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly mix in powdered sugar. Add cinnamon and orange oil and slowly stir in. Transfer to a frosting bag, or a fancy ziplock with the end snipped off. Pipe onto one cookie bottom, smoosh with another, and then eat or store. Can be kept for a day at room temperature, or a few days in the refrigerator (where they will soften a bit).

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