Milk & Cookies

Mmm. I ate four of these today, and four yesterday. At least. It’s hard to keep track after four (and embarrassing).

These cookies sparkle in the sunlight. The main difference between these cookies and a vampire is YOU get to eat THEM. (Also, note to producers, next time try rolling him in sugar for a more believable effect.)

Okay, so here’s the recipe:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 Tbsp water
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
• 3/4 cup raisins
• Additional 2 Tbsp white sugar for rolling cookies in before baking

Brilliant idea from the vegan.

I found this recipe on Recipezaar (here). I noticed that the description mentioned that it had been modified to be vegan, but I figured I would just unmodify it by changing the margarine back to butter and all would be good. Well, I got halfway through the recipe when I realized the other vegan change: there were no eggs! I love eggs! I know some cookies don’t have them but I would never take eggs out of a cookie just so it could be vegan. (Plus, this way my cookies have “protein” and “nutritional value”.) So I went back and I think I found the unvegan recipe this had been modified from. From Allrecipes (here). Apparently the vegan had made a few changes: changed butter to margarine, used 1/3 cups of water instead of 1 Tbsp, 2 1/2 cups of flour isntead of 2 1/4, and 1 1/2 tsp baking soda instead of 1 tsp. The vegan had also added fresh chopped ginger (brilliant)! By the time I looked at the recipe it was too late to change the amount of baking soda or flour, but I decreased the water, added the one egg, and kept the fresh chopped ginger. Everything came out great, but you could play with the amount of flour, baking soda, and water if you wanted and maybe it would turn out even better. I actually think you could decrease the amount of sugar as well and it would still be good.

Do what I say, not what I do (I combined steps 6 and 7). Or you'll get flour stuck in your raisins!

Okay, after that long literature review, here’s the instructions.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Chop ginger until you get 1 Tbsp
3. Mix dry ingredients (flour, soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt)
4. Cream sugar into butter
5. Add egg, molasses, and water to sugar/butter and mix.
6. Add dry ingredients and mix.
7. Add raisins and chopped ginger and mix.
8. Form walnut-sized balls and roll them in the additional 2 Tbsp of sugar.
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
10. EAT EAT EAT. OW! Let cool first.

You learn something new every day. Yesterday I learned several new things. For example, Jason doesn’t like popcorn. Here’s how that went:

Jason: “I don’t like popcorn.”

Me: “What? I didn’t know that.”

Jason: “How did you not know that? We’ve been together 9 years.”

Me: “I guess it never came up because we never eat popcorn together.”

Jason: “… And why do you think that is?”

Oops. I thought we never ate popcorn because I don’t like it. Not that I really dislike it, I just see no reason to eat it unless it’s coated with sugar or massive amounts of butter.

So if you also don’t like popcorn unless it’s coated with sugar, these popcorn balls are for you! I was looking for recipes for popcorn balls because of a house I used to go trick or treating at in my friend Alicia’s neighborhood circa 1995. At this one house, when you knocked on their door they would invite you inside, feed you popcorn balls, and take a picture of your costume. On their wall were pictures of the previous year’s trick or treaters. It was always fun to try to find your own picture.

I found one recipe online that was from someone whose mother did the same thing! I wonder if it is the same person? Anyways, here’s the recipe (from here):

• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 Tbsp margarine
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 gallons air popped popcorn

Here’s something else I learned: How to air pop popcorn in a microwave. It’s really easy… Put 3 Tbsp. popcorn kernels in a paper bag, tape it shut with some room to expand of course, and stick it in the microwave. Press the “popcorn” button (on my microwave it was 3 1/2 minutes which was perfect). Ta-da! This makes about a quart of popped popcorn so you need to do this several times to get to 2 gallons.

The next step is the coating. Put the sugar, syrup, molasses, margarine, and salt in a pan and cook on your stove on medium for 3 1/2 minutes, basically until it is warm and all mixed together.

Third thing I learned yesterday: Molasses is denser than corn syrup. I probably could have guessed that, but seeing it for yourself is much cooler!

Now take off any rings, watches, or bracelets that you don’t want to be completely destroyed. Pour the mixture over the popped popcorn and stir with a spoon. Use your hands to form balls and set them somewhere to cool. If the popcorn sticks to your hands instead of itself, rinse your hands in cold water. The popcorn will not stick to wet hands.

Finally, for a halloween flavor I tried to add M&M eyeballs to some of mine so they look like little monsters. It turned out okay, but many of them didn’t stick. I’m not sure if I’d recommend this.

I had never made popcorn balls before, so this was a new experience. I now have some tips for next time. First, make sure you remove all the unpopped popcorn kernels BEFORE pouring the syrup on. It will be much easier, I promise. Speaking of unpopped kernels, be careful eating these. I thought I got them all but there may be a few hiding in there. Second, use a HUGE bowl for mixing! (I used a wok). Third, these were amazingly delicious last night when I was making them, but by this morning already tasted stale and not crunchy! I’m not sure if they are just intended to be eaten right away, or if you need to pack them immediately in saran wrap to keep them fresh. Or maybe I shouldn’t have been using water to keep them from sticking to my hands. Maybe I should have tried olive oil. (To be fair, the recipe said water). Anyways, I am pretty bummed that they are not nearly as good as last night. And Jason didn’t try any so I am the only witness. But I promise, they were good! They tasted like cracker jacks.