Guilt-Me Cookies

Here's a little mental health check-up for you. What emotion would you say is in the driver's seat of your life right now? Is it happiness? Fear? Anger? Pity? Lust? Grief? Excitement?

Unfortunately, I think the one driving my life-mini-van right now is guilt. I feel guilty about not being more thorough in my children's schooling. I feel guilty that the house is so messy. Guilt washes over me when I think about the cards I meant to send, the phone calls I intended to make, and the unanswered e-mails languishing in my in box. Totting up the unfinished craft projects, scrapbooks, and piles of fabric waiting to be turned (someday) into quilts makes my guilt go into overdrive. And let's not even mention the blog. Two posts a week? Guilt, guilt, guilt.

Is it because I'm out partying all night and trying on shoes all day that so much is left undone? Hardly. You would have to look long and hard to find a less well-shod non-party-goer. No, the sad truth of the matter is that it all comes down to organization and the basic constraint of only 24 hours per day. So much to do, so little time.

Occasionally I'll meet someone who says, "Oh, my, you bake, you blog, you homeschool your children, and you have a business, too? How do you do it all?" The answer is, "Pretty poorly."

Well, what's a girl to do when swamped with guilt like this? Eat a carrot stick and feel more in control of life? Heck no! I say, make cookies! That's lots more fun than dusting the furniture or doing laundry, anyway. Plus then the whole family is happy and doesn't notice the insulating layer of dust or mind that they have to turn their underwear inside out to get another wearing from it.

These are amazing cookies. If you are feeling any negative emotion, a bite of this moist, flavorful, heavenly cookie (molasses with a hit of dark chocolate) will make you feel lots better. And if you're already happy, it'll just super-charge your day. So stop procrastinating -get your butter out to warm up to room temperature. You'll be able to fit this into your day. And if something else falls to the wayside (like ironing or taking out the trash), no one will notice or care.


Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
- adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies

1-1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1-1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 Tbsp unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 Tbsp freshly grated peeled ginger
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp boiling water
7 oz. best-quality semi-sweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch chunks
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1- In a bowl, sift together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and fresh ginger on medium speed until lightened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.

2- In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Beat half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Beat in the baking soda mixture, then the remaining half of the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat the dough out to a 1-inch thickness and wrap with the plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or overnight.

3- Preheat the oven to 325 deg. F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

4- Roll dough into 1-1/2 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Chill 20 minutes. (Don't skip this chilling step! The dough gets very sticky as it warms.) Roll the balls in granulated sugar and place back on the baking sheets.

5- Bake until surfaces just begin to crack, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through the cooking time. Let cool on the sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

These cookies are best the day they are made, but can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 5 days.

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One more reason to feel guilty: Today is the post day for the Bread Baking Babes. As you might have noticed, I'm not posting the wonderful Chinese Steamed Flower Buns that was our assignment for the month. Guilt!!! I'm a bad Babe, but you can check out the other amazing Babes to see what they did with this fun recipe. Links to their sites are on the side bar.