Iced Maple~Molasses Cookies & July's Give-Away Apron

It's so hot here (95-degrees with a heat index of 102) that my baking transported me to cooler days and I created a recipe reminiscent of Autumn!  These cookies are scented with ginger, cinnamon, cloves and the tastes of molasses and maple--a cookie I would normally bake for the holidays.

Not to make light of disasters, but on January 15, 1919, in the North End of Boston, a molasses storage tank burst and the streets were flooded with this thick, sticky substance.  It flowed through the streets at 35 miles per hour and killed 21 and injured 150 people.  For several decades, there was a folklore that on hot summer days, the area smelled of molasses!  Well, that's how my kitchen smelled yesterday:-D

Iced Maple~Molasses Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup Grade B Maple Syrup
1/2 cup Molasses
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 3/4 + 3T cups King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 T ground Ginger
2 tsp. ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground Cloves
1/2 tsp. ground Cardamon
1 cup finely chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350F-degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream the butter thoroughly.  Add the maple syrup and molasses and beat together, scrapping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Add the eggs, one at a time--the mixture will appear "curdled."  Add the vanilla and mix well.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix on low to incorporate.  The dough will be somewhat stiff.

Form the dough into balls the size of a large walnut or ping-pong ball;-)  Place the balls on the parchment paper and using a cookie stamp, lightly dipped into flour, press a design in the cookies.  The cookie should be about 3-inches in diameter.

Alternatively, you could use a fork to cross-hatch a design (like peanut butter cookies).  Place the cookies in the preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes.  Remove from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

 Icing:

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (icing sugar)

1 T light Karo syrup

1-2 T very hot water

1/4 tsp. almond extract

While the cookies are warm, use an off-set spatula to spread the icing on top of the cookies.

These cookies were so good with a glass of Iced Tea or, as my hubby had, a tall glass of Lemonade.  Enjoy!

Now, the new apron that will be given away at the end of the month also reflects how hot it is here.  This fabric just jumped out at me in one of my favorite quilt shops!

My Kelly loved the color orange and I think she would approve of my choice.  If you would like to win this apron, just comment on any of the posts this month.  Good Luck!

To put a smile on your face, here's a photo of a squirrel relaxing on one of the Adirondack chairs on the deck.  Since I don't bake with preservatives, the wildlife around here eat pretty good.  This guy has a chunk of bread while stretched out--what a life!