Chinese Five-Spice Molasses Latte Cookies

Chewy and beautifully marbled, these are a twist on classic ginger molasses cookies. I used Chinese five-spice to add a deeper, more complex spice profile and a shot of espresso because COFFEE <3

Surprise! Happy Wednesday, everyone. December is absolutely flying by and I’m determined to slow down and soak up every last bit of it before Christmas. I will definitely be busy making cookies endlessly to share with friends and family, but Christmas movies will be on in the background, chilly mornings will be slow and I might add a dash of cinnamon in my cappuccino.

DISCLOSURE: I created this recipe as part of a paid partnership with Kerrygold, but this newsletter was not a part of that collaboration— I just need somewhere cozy to post the recipe, and here we are :) I hope you enjoy!

Tag me @momentsofsugar on Instagram so I can see your creations!

INGREDIENTS

for vanilla cookie dough

144g (1 cup + 2 tb) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
113g (1 stick) Kerrygold Pure Irish salted butter sticks, room temperature
100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
25g (2 tb) light or dark brown sugar
1/2 large egg (instructions below)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

for molasses + espresso dough

160g (1 1/4 cup) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp Chinese Five Spice powder 
85g (6 tb) Kerrygold Pure Irish Salted Butter Sticks, room temperature
100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
50g (1/4 cup) light or dark brown sugar
1/2 large egg (see instructions below)
35g (2 tb) unsulphured molasses 
1 double shot of espresso or very strong coffee (MUST BE 36g), cooled
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling cookies in

INSTRUCTIONS

make the vanilla cookie dough

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda, set aside

2. In a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer, beat the Kerrygold butter for 30 seconds, Add granulated and brown sugars and beat together on high speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. Place a small bowl over baking scale and tare/zero it. Crack the large egg into it and record its weight. Mine weighed 50g without the shell. Break up the egg anf beat gently with a fork. Carefully add half the egg (25g, in my case) to the butter mixture and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Set aside the rest of the egg for the next dough we're making. 

4. Beat in vanilla extract. Add flour mixture into wet ingredients and mix on low until dough comes together. Scrape all the dough into a medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge. 

make the molasses + espresso cookie dough

1. In a medium to large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger, and Chinese five spice. Set aside. 

2. In a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer, beat Kerrygold salted butter for 30 seconds. Add granulated and brown sugars and beat on high for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the remaining half of the egg and mix to combine.

3. Add molasses, cooled espresso, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until well combined. The mixture might split here but that's fine! 

4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, mix again, then add dry ingredients. Mix on low until fully incorporated. This dough is a little more wet than the vanilla one. Cover with plastic wrap and let chill in fridge for 1-2 hours. 

assemble and bake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Place 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl, set aside

3. Using a medium (1 1/2 tablespoon) cookie scoop, scoop out cookie dough and place scoops onto a parchment lined baking sheet. 

4.. To create a swirly/marble effect with cookies, take one scoop of vanilla cookie dough and one scoop of molasses/espresso dough, gently smoosh their flat ends together. Then, rip the ball you've formed in half so that you have a total of 4 pieces now, one of each color on each hand. Rotate your hands slightly so the colors don't match up, then smoosh them back together and gently roll into a nice ball shape. 

5. Roll in sugar and place onto parchment lined baking sheet. I only bake 4 at a time, placing them a few inches apart from each other, staggered. 

6. Bake for 10 minutes, then bang the bottom of the pan against the oven rack a few times to deflate the cookies a bit, Rotate the tray and bake for an additional 4 minutes. 

7. Remove from oven and immediately bang tray a couple times. Using an offset spatula or straight edge of a butter knife, gently push any weirdly shaped edges back into a perfect cookie shape! Let cool for 10 minutes before moving from baking sheet. Enjoy warm or store completely cooled cookies in airtight container for up to 4-5 days for best result.