A New Tradition

Traditions are fascinating things. There are some that are born in a very, well, traditional, way. I have recipes that my mother makes and that her mother made before her: Thanksgiving stuffing, Marinara sauce and Caesar salad are some of my sacred family recipes. I know we all have a treasure trove of these. But then there are others that are born more organically, the ones that become our new traditions and our future grandchildren’s traditions. New Traditions sounds wrong, but how would any tradition become one if it were not at some point new? I’m reminded of the Velveteen Rabbit and his quest to become real: he was not inherently real, but with time and love he became real. Many recipes enter our lives, but only a select few make it through the years and are made your own, your traditions.



Molasses spice cookies are one of my new traditions. I stumbled upon the recipe in a cookie cookbook about ten years ago. I love gingerbread and gingersnaps, so these immediately appealed to me. I started making them one winter, then stopped until it was cold again the next year. (I love gingerbread and spices, but they definitely have their seasonal place.) I suppose it was the second or third season that I answered their siren song that they were officially part of my collection, and not just some passing recipe that I was temporarily enamored of. I began tweaking, adding fresh ginger, then crystallized ginger, and then deciding against the crystallized ginger after all. I was making it my own.



Somewhere along the way I acquired a molasses spice cookie bowl. It is a simple yellow melamine bowl with a pour spout, medium sized, likely the lone remainder of someone’s wedding set. It came to me from my roommate Brooke, whom I lived with after college, and didn’t make it to her new home with her when she got married. So I inherited the yellow bowl, at least its third owner, and this is the bowl I always use to make these cookies. They need to chill in the fridge, and I like that this bowl is not as heavy as a ceramic one, and since my fridge is always packed to the gills, I can stack this on something else without squishing anything.



One of my favorite things about these cookies is that you pretty much make them in a pot. I would not be very convincing if I told you other cookies are difficult, but these are really, really easy. They are good after school or work cookies and have less clean up than other kinds, and they make the house smell wonderfully of spices and warmth while they bake. Trust me: on a cold, dark winter evening, you want a batch of these warming up your home.



My husband and I love to eat them in the evening with a cup of rooibos tea with milk and sugar. It is a comforting way to spend an evening, the kind where weight disappears off of your shoulders. They are that kind of cookie, the forgetting-troubles kind, which is really the best kind of all. I suppose this is why Molasses Spice Cookies have been elevated from a good cookie to a tradition. I look forward to making them for my children and grandchildren, and hope that one day they, too, will end a long day with a cup of tea and a cookie.



Molasses Spice Cookies

These cookies need to chill for an hour in the fridge, but the good news is that once they’re in the fridge, you can leave them there and bake them a batch at a time if you really like warm-from-the-oven cookies. However, these last well and I think they taste better after a few days. I have used both dark unsulphured molasses as well as light, and both turned out well.

1.5 sticks butter, melted
2 teaspoons fresh ginger
¼ cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup sugar

Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Once there is enough butter to coat the bottom of the pan, add the fresh ginger, and continue to stir and melt the butter. Remove from heat and stir in the molasses and vanilla. Allow to cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with 1 cup of sugar, the baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.

Add the beaten egg to the cooled butter mixture. Whisk to combine. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, stirring until all of the flour is combined. Press plastic wrap over the dough and up the sides of the bowl and refrigerate until the dough is firm enough to work into balls, at least an hour or overnight (they will hold for up to a week in the fridge if you are making them ahead).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar in a small bowl. Scoop out tablespoon sized pieces and roll into balls. Roll the balls in the sugar to coat and place on the baking sheets about 1.5 inches apart.

Bake for about 14 minutes (a little less if you like them very soft or up to a minute or two longer if you like them crisp). Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for a few days, or freeze for a few weeks.

Yield about 48 cookies.

Smitten

I have been smitten with peaches lately. I’m still in awe at how early we get summer fruit in Central Texas, and each week at the farmer’s market I feel like a kid in a candy shop, with so many wonderful choices that I hardly know where to begin. There is bright green okra…



…Buckets of tomatoes…



…Bouquets of herbs and flowers…



It is all inspiring, and I wish I had an army to cook for so I could take advantage of it all. Alas, even my husband is out of town so it’s just me, and I will have to make do with only the pictures for now.

But in the midst of all this bounty, it is the peach that I am completely enamored of. I have been eating them for breakfast every day as I posted earlier, and still it’s not enough. I would love to make a big cobbler or pie, but being home all alone with a pie would not be a good thing. I had the same thought about ice cream, and it is probably lucky I didn’t have any cream on hand or I would still be eating it and not writing a word.



And then it dawned on me that I haven’t made scones in a while, and more surprisingly, that I haven’t baked much lately or even posted one single recipe for a baked good (savory Tomato Tarts are a bit iffy). I love to bake, and now that I think about it, I can't believe it's taken me so long to write about baking. I had decided: I would make peach scones.

I wanted them to be special, to really show off the lovely fruit. Frankly, I wanted them to have a wow factor. Since peaches and ginger have a natural affinity for one another, I added some crystallized ginger to the dry ingredients, and some fresh grated ginger to the sliced peaches. For added complexity, I substituted ¼ cup of cornmeal for flour, which gave the dough a little more texture and a nice hint of sweetness.



Oh my goodness, they were so good! I wish I could invite you over to have a cup of tea and one of these scones! The ginger was completely infused into the scone in each bite, sweet and spicy, offsetting the fruit marvelously. Thankfully I had the foresight to freeze half of them before baking, or there wouldn’t be any left when my hubby gets home. Still, I may have to package some up for the neighbors so I don’t eat 10 scones today.

The taste of ginger is still lingering in my mouth. I think it’s tea time again.



Double Ginger Peach Scones

I like to make small scones so I can enjoy one with a cup of tea in the afternoon. You could just make eight large ones if you’d like, but then you’ll have less of them to eat and share with your friends. They will take longer to bake if you make bigger ones.

2 ¾ cup flour
½ cup sugar
¼ cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons very finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup (1.5 sticks) cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk
1 small peach, ripe but still quite firm
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
A few tablespoons of turbinado sugar, to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and position rack to middle of oven.

Slice the peach (no need to peel it) into very thin slices around the peach.
Then cut around in the opposite direction, so that the slices are all cut in half.



Place these in a small bowl and stir in fresh ginger, stirring to combine. The ginger may initially just clump together, so just gently mix it until it’s evenly dispersed. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, sugar, cornmeal, crystallized ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or rub in with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually add the buttermilk, stirring with a wooden spoon until it clumps together.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and bring the dough into a loose ball. Divide in half, and pat one half into a round a little less than half an inch thick (if one piece is slightly larger, use it for the bottom). Spread the peaches around the disk, as you would pizza toppings. Flatten the other half of the dough into a disk the same size as the first one. Place this on top of the first disk, and pat it down, kind of sealing the edges as needed.

Cut the round into eight even pieces. Cut each eighth into three triangles, making them as even as possible.





Place the scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. You’ll need to do two batches, or you can freeze one sheet of them, placing them in a freezer bag once they are rock hard; then just bake them from the frozen state for just a few extra minutes. This is what I do, so I can have fresh scones without lifting a finger.

Bake for 12-13 minutes until the scones are golden brown. Try to let them cool a bit, even though the smell of spicy ginger will tempt you. These are wonderful with a cup of tea, especially Rooibos tea.