Sunday Afternoons are For...

A drizzly Sunday afternoon calls for napping, reading and baking these delightfully addictive chocolate ginger molasses ice cream sandwiches.  They are messy - best eaten while standing close to the kitchen sink or holding a plate to catch the drippings - but are so perfectly tasty.  The cookies are a great nibble on their own, perfectly paired with a cup of coffee (which I will do in the morning) but when made into an ice cream sandwich they bring out the kid in all of us.

My cooking partner is a professional chocolatier and recently gave me a bag of cacao barry cocoa powder from France.  Let's just say,  good-bye Hershey's and Trader Joe's.  The exquisite taste of using this fine cocoa is worth the switch.  Almost makes me feel like a chocolatier myself!

Chocolate Ginger Molasses Cookies

12 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulate sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/3 cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur)
6 tablespoons cacao barry cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In mixer bowl, beat butter with brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until combined. Beat in egg, vanilla and molasses.

In medium bowl, combine flour with cocoa, baking soda and spices. Add into first mixture and beat just until combined. Chill in refrigerator until firm, about 15 minutes. Place 1/2 cup granulated sugar in bowl.

Using scoop or a tablespoon, roll dough into small balls, dip in sugar, place on baking sheet and flatten.  Bake for 4 -5 minutes on lower rack of oven, then transfer to middle rack and bake an additional 4 - 5 minutes, until puffed and tops begin to crack.

Let rest on baking pan for two minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Make sandwiches using your favorite ice cream or eat plain.