Today I wanted to make a non-traditional oatmeal cookie. Not that I do not enjoy an oatmeal raisin cookie, I just wanted something a little different. I have also been thinking of molasses. I love using molasses. It has such a great flavor, but it seems to have fallen out of favor recently. As much as I love brown sugar it just seemed like I could add another dimension of flavor to a plain oatmeal cookie by including molasses. These cookies have a great smokey and nutty flavor without being too sweet. They are a gorgeous burnt orange (think about your old crayola 64 color box and you will see what I mean) color that really makes them pop when surrounded by other cookies.

The only thing I wish I would have done with these cookies was toasting the oatmeal before using it. The cookies are great but I think more of the nutty oatmeal flavor would have come out with the toasting so I will include it in the recipe.

Oatmeal Molasses Cookies (about 4 dozen)

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups rolled oats

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Spread the rolled oats out on a cookie sheet and toast them in the oven for 6-8 minutes until just golden and fragrant. Allow the oats to cool. After the oats are out of the oven turn the heat up to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add in molasses and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients (except the oats) and add them all at once to the wet ingredients stirring slowly until the dough becomes smooth (about 3 minutes). Fold in the oats until evenly distributed.

Form dough into 1 1/2 inch balls or about a tablespoon drop. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet (these cookies will stick even to a “nonstick” cookie sheet). Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes until the cookies are still slightly soft in the middle. Do not remove the cookies from the baking sheet they are too fragile while hot to move. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet. They will firm up considerably.