Bourbon Spice Cookies

On my way to meet some friends for drinks the other night, I wondered if it would be weird to order a hot toddy. It’s almost April after all. Are there rules like there are for white and Labor Day? Shouldn’t we be gearing up for gin and tonics? I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the above referenced friends had ordered a toddy before I had arrived. Mind reader. I ended up drinking a Campari and soda, but that’s totally beside the point.

I do love bourbon; don’t get me wrong. I finished up the night with a Night Owl — bourbon, Ramazzotti, and toasted pecan bitters from Radar. I’m all about simple and spicy. I threw a little bit of bourbon into cookies to the same effect. Who knew I’d finally have a reason to kill off the small bottle of molasses I’ve had in my pantry since at least 2011. This stuff never goes bad, clearly.

Having all that glorious butter makes for some super soft cookies. I swapped out the whole wheat for make-my-own oat flour. That made them extra chewy. Pulling them out in nine minutes helped, too. They’re very snickerdoodle meets gingersnap meets bourbon. I used Bull Run Distilling Temperance Trader Straight Bourbon Whiskey, which I highly suggest getting if you’re actually in Portland. It’s totally worthy of being sipped on the rocks, made into a cocktail, or baked in cookies. Seriously.

I made one hell of a mess during the process. Rolling things in sugar will do that. The ants were thrilled by my choice to throw brown sugar around the kitchen floor. Just when you think you’ve picked it all up, they gladly come remind you of the microscopic pieces that you can’t see. Thanks, ants.

Inspiration: Full Measure of Happiness

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup oat flour [rolled oats in your blender/food processor works just fine]
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 1/2 sticks of softened butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 tablespoon bourbon
• sugar for rolling the cookies

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with a Silpat or parchment.

In a bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside. In a stand mixer bowl, cream the butter and sugars together for several minutes until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until well incorporated. Add the bourbon and molasses.

Stir in the dry ingredients until just mixed. It will be sticky. And delicious.

Set up some sugar on a plate and another plate to set the rolled cookies. Use a cookie scoop or a tablespoon to scoop out the dough and roll it into a ball. Roll the ball in the sugar, coating it well. Place it on the empty plate. Repeat until they’re all finished. Place the balls of dough into the freezer for a few minutes.

Once they’ve set up, place them on a cookie sheet a few inches apart. They will spread a little bit. I went through several cookie sheets worth of cookies to get them all baked. Bake them for 8-10 minutes, pulling at nine if possible. Allow them to cool before transferring them to a cooling rack. Enjoy the next best thing to a hot toddy.

They can be stored in an airtight container for several days.