Ginger Molasses Cookies

 
What happens when 4 Davis' all find themselves home on a Sunday afternoon with no plans? We go for a hike.

Ben scoped out a 7 mile hike for us at Panther Creek  few weeks ago so we packed up some snacks, some sandwiches and the dog and headed north to Clarkville, Georgia. It was a beautiful day for a hike.

The boys carried their packs.  As for Courtney and I, we opted for a much lighter load.  (I did carry my SLR camera - does that count as a hiking essential?) 

 The trail followed the creek for the entire 3 1/2 miles. 

Of course we stopped to take advantage of the gorgeous scenery and snap some family pictures along the way.   Sometimes Mia cooperated...

And sometimes she didn't.

Our hike ended at the most beautiful waterfall, tucked away deep in the national forest.  

We all got our feet wet in the water to cool off but none of us appreciated it as much as Mia.

We spent about an hour at the base of the waterfall - enjoying the water, eating some snacks and resting up for the return hike.

 









Mia's pace slowed ever so slightly on the hike out of the forest but she still kept us moving along at a pretty good clip.

 I still managed to stop and snap a few photos along the way.

It was a great hike - I highly recommend it for any of my fellow Georgia residents.

Want to know what was in those packs that the boys carried on our hike?   A lot of food and water, a tent, sleeping bags and various other essentials - just in case we got stranded out in the forest.  (It's a good think at least some of us were prepared.)  Among other snacks, we took along some ginger molasses cookies - the perfect sweet, energy boost that we needed halfway through our hike. 

Ginger Molasses Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 extra-large egg
1/4 cup regular unsulphured molasses
granulated sugar (for coating cookie dough before baking)

Heat oven to 375 degrees with the rack in the center. Line 2 baking
sheets with parchment paper or silicon pan liners. Set aside.
Sift flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves into a medium bowl. Set aside.

Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl with mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

With mixer on medium speed, beat in the egg and molasses, then increase the speed to high and
beat about 1 minute longer, until the mixture no longer looks curdled.  Scrape the sides with a rubber spatula several times while mixing.

Mix in the flour mixture on low speed. The batter will be rather stiff.
 

Place some granulated sugar on a small plate or saucer. Use a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop or a measuring cup to form 1/4-cup portions of dough.

Transfer the dough to your hands and roll each portion into a rough ball, then roll each ball into the
sugar.

Dampen your fingers with water and press down lightly on each cookie to flatten it a little and dampen the top. Refrigerate one filled baking sheet while the other bakes.

Bake for 12 minutes, or until the cookies have spread and are firm to the touch. Rotate the sheet 180 degrees halfway through the baking time.  Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on a wire rack.

Maybe not your typical trail food but delicious none the less.  Happy Saturday - make it a great one.

Ciao!