The running joke in Nashville is that there’s a conspiracy between the meteorologists and grocery stores to forecast snow a couple of times each winter. This results in kids getting their hopes up (and more often than not, dashed), schools being called off before the first flake has even fallen, and a mad rush to the grocery store to stock up – just in case.

Although the weather folks got it right this time and we finally got a legitimate snow (yeah!), this meant no Saturday morning farmers’ market for us – no milk, eggs, or ginger cookies. You see, we’re big fans of a certain ginger cookie there that the baker herself describes as having a “cult following”. Great – this must mean we’re now members of said cult. However, this isn’t at all how I envisioned it: no Kool-Aid, no stockpiling of weapons – thankfully just the stockpiling of cookies for the next WACO (What A COokie) raid!

So needing my cookie fix and now actually snowed in, I turned to Dozen’s website and found the ingredient list for the “tender ginger molasses cookie with real crystallized ginger.” With a little tinkering, I came up with something pretty darn close to the original – soft, chewy, spicy, and dark. Thanks to the blackstrap molasses, this cookie is definitely not blonde but rather a brunette – more Mary Ann than Ginger, wouldn’t you say? Hmmm…Mary Ann cookies? Nah – we’ll keep the name, the snow (as long as we can), and definitely, the cookies.

Tender Ginger Molasses Cookies

inspired by Dozen – A Nashville Sweet Shop

• 2¼ cups (11¼ ounces) flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup (3½ ounces) sugar
• ½ cup (3½ ounces) dark brown sugar
• 1 egg, room-temperature
• ¼ cup blackstrap molasses
• ¼ cup (2 ounces) crystallized ginger, minced
• coarse sugar, for rolling the cookies

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, and salt. Set aside.

Cream together butter, sugar, and dark brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and then molasses. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl as needed. Gradually add flour mixture and mix only until combined. Stir in crystallized ginger.

Dough will be soft and can be refrigerated if you like. Scoop dough into balls and roll in coarse sugar. Place on parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will look underdone but will firm up as they cool. Let rest on sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.