Old Fashioned Iced Molasses Cookies.. - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
6 tablespoons crisco vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1/2 cup sour cream
ICING
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

Preparation

to make the COOKIES:.
sift the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves into a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar till blended -- about 1 minute.
stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of bowl as needed during mixing.
add the egg, molasses and sour cream and mix until blended and the color is an even light brown.about 1 minute.
(at first the mixture may look seperated and multicolored, but it will become evenly colored).
on low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until the flour is incorporated and a soft sticky dough forms.
cover the bowl and chill until the dough is firm enough to form into balls -- about 2 hours.
Position a rack in the middle of the ovwn.
preheat the oven to 350* -- line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
for each cookie, use an ice cream scoop or measuring cup with 1/4 cup capacity to portion the dough, then roll each one between the palms of your hands into a ball.
place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet -- spacing them 3\" apart.
Bake until the tops feel firm but the centers still feel soft, there are small cracks on top and the bottoms are slightly browned -- about 18 minutes --
cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
to prepare the ICING:.
in a small bowl, stir the powdered sugar and vanilla together with enough milk to form a thick frosting.use a small spoon to drizzle the icing over each cookie.
let the cookies sit at room temperature for up to 4 eays.