Appetite for Destruction #2: Mapledoodles

Growing up in New England one of my favourite cookies were called lumberjacks which were essentially a type of gingerbread with an obscene amount of molasses added to it. If you are a fan of molasses cookies or gingerbread, you will enjoy lumberjacks. Personally, I like the flavour the molasses gives to these cookies more than I enjoy straight gingerbread. When making some this past week, I put my own spin on the old lumberjack recipe and created something that is somewhere between the original and a snickerdoodle with a Vermont or Canadian twist, depending on how you look at it. These cookies are practically a meal themselves and healthier than almost any meal replacement bar or shake you can find on the market. They are relatively low in fat and sugar, too.

Ingredients

4 Cups Whole wheat flour (all purpose flour just as good)

2 Tsp. Cinnamon

1 Tsp. Baking soda

1 Tsp. Ground or freshly grated ginger

1 Tsp. Salt

1 Cup Vegetable Shortening, slightly softened (Do not use butter, lard, or oil. It will taste funny)

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Molasses (dark or light depending on how much flavour you like)

¼ Cup Milk

¼ Cup Maple Syrup (The real stuff tastes better, but pancake syrup works nicely.)

1 Tbsp. Pumpkin puree (canned) or 1 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

2 eggs

¼ Cup sugar set aside in a bowl to top cookies

Directions

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-In one bowl stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, and salt until well combined.
-In a separate bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium-high for 30 seconds to make it easier to work with. If doing it by hand, do it for about 2 minutes or so.
-Add sugar to the shortening and beat for thirty more seconds, scraping sides of the bowl occasionally.
-Add molasses, milk, syrup, pumpkin and eggs to shortening mixture and blend until well incorporated. Everything should look like muddy beach sand.
-Slowly begin to add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture about a cup at a time and blending with electric beater until the beater can’t take it anymore. At that point, switch to mixing by hand until all flour is incorporated into the mixture.
-Form cookies by hand into walnut sized balls (about 1 ½ inches) and roll the balls in the bowl with only sugar to top cookies. Place cookies on a greased or parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes.
-Let cookies rest on baking sheet before transferring to wire rack for cooling.