Amanda has turned this month’s Soggy Bottoms over to me because I wanted to talk about murder.
YES. MURDER.
Like y’all, I’ve been doing a lot of baking in the past year. Baking is a lovely way to complete a project in a specific and manageable amount of time, with the delight of endorphins and serotonin at the end and something delicious to eat. Winner, winner, baked good for dinner!
One of my favorite recipe discoveries was Murder Cookies. Posted on the wonderful Old_Recipes subreddit, this recipe is OH MY STARS delicious. And I make a lot of cookies, too. Chewy chocolate gingerbread and oatmeal chocolate chip (aka, the “Neiman Marcus cookie”) are big favorites, along with bourbon pecan chocolate chip. Murder Cookies are now on that list, and since the recipe makes a heaping crapton, I can portion dough and freeze it, which means MURDER ANY TIME I WANT MWAHAHAHA.
The recipe on Reddit is an image, so here’s a typed out version. So named because NearKilroy was researching a murder that took place in their house when they discovered this recipe from the 30s, Murder Cookies are also known as “Cushman’s Bakery Scotch Cookies,” and use mace, molasses, and cinnamon to create a spice flavor that’s utter flipping perfection.
Murder Cookies
1.5 cups sugar
1 cup shortening1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
3.5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2.5 teaspoons soda (baking soda)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mace
1/4 cup milk
Notes on ingredients:
Per the wise folks on the Old_Recipes subreddit, any time you spot shortening on an old recipe, substitute half butter and half shortening. The shortening gives the cookies a wonderful chewy middle and crisp edge, but after shortening, especially Crisco, was reformulated in the 2000s, it doesn’t perform the same as it did Back In the Day. So I crossed out the original 1 cup shortening and wrote in the substitution.
A tip for working with molasses: spray the measuring cup with a bit of nonstick cooking spray, and the molasses should slide right out.
Instructions from the original recipe:
“Cream sugar, shortening, molasses and egg. Sift dry ingredients and beat in, along with the milk. Drop by tablespoonful onto greased sheets. Press down lightly with floured glass. Bake, but do not overbake.”
Seriously, that reads like a Technical Challenge on GBBO, right? “Bake but don’t overbake.” Uh, sure, ok!
Reddit to the rescue! NearKilroy baked them almost immediately and posted their results along with spice variations and serving recommendations.
Here are the instructions I’ve worked out:
Preheat oven to 350, with rack in the middle of the oven (like me, you can count the rungs to make sure it’s the middle. I do it all the time.)
Cream sugar, shortening, molasses and egg with a hand mixer or stand mixer
Sift dry ingredients into a bowl, then add slowly to the gooey ingredients
Add milk – but don’t be alarmed, the dough is a LOT and is pretty thick
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet that’s been greased or lined with parchment
Press down lightly with floured glass or glass sprayed with cooking spray
Bake at 350F for 12-13 minutes. They’ll be set at the edges and cracked across the top, and as they cool, the middles will be soft while the edges are crispy.
Try (“try”) not to eat them all.
As you might have spotted from the recipe, this recipe makes a literal heaping crapton of dough. I usually make a batch of 18-24, then portion out and freeze the rest of the dough in balls. When I want more, I thaw the dough on a cookie sheet until I can press them down, then bake.
They are so good. Good with literally everything: tea, milk, cocktails, breathing air. Everything.
It’s 9:30 in the morning as I type this and I want some right now. I sent Amanda some and she did in fact have them for breakfast, so I think that’s an endorsement for MURDER ANY TIME YOU WANT.
Now for the bookish part! I typically listen to audiobooks while I sew and while I bake. During my latest batch of Murder Cookies, and my latest sewing project, I’ve been listening to Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s narration of the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch. I’ve read all the books, and love listening to something I’ve already read. Usually I hear something new each time.
Currently I’m up to Foxglove Summer, which is one of my favorites in the series because it’s more procedural, it’s out in the country, and Peter’s on his own coming up with solutions to magical problems and local reaction to “weird bollocks.”
This is also a series that I love listening to the narration even more than I like reading the book. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is so freaking talented: the performance of the voices and characterization, the subtle variations in dialect, and the pacing are perfection. The audio performance adds so much to the story.
So if you’re making Murder Cookies, I recommend mysteries, particularly this series. There isn’t a murder in this one, but given that Murder Cookies were discovered while researching a murder to track down a ghost, it definitely fits.
What cookies are you baking? Any recommendations?
Cookies! Let’s do this! (cracks knuckles, does some head rolls, dusts off apron)
Cookies are my specialty. I am an absolute nerd about them. I don’t do a lot of fancy desserts, but come November and December the cookie-making gets very serious around here.
If you want some super-fancy or more decadent cookies, I like Smitten Kitchen. My two favorites are Italian bakery cookies/cat’s tongue cookies (piped sandwich cookies dipped in chocolate, possibly familiar to a lot of people from Northeast US) and consummate chocolate chip cookies (aka the New York Times chocolate chip cookies). The Italian bakery cookies can be kind of fussy to make (piped, then sandwiched, then dipped) but they make a really lovely presentation and taste better on the second day. My first try was a failure, but I’m glad I stuck with them. The chocolate chip cookies are not hard but it’s best to rush through them.
I like Sally’s baking Addiction for more simple recipes and twists on old favorites. Her roll out sugar cookie recipe is very reliable and she does a 12 days of cookies every December where she introduces 12 new recipes. Very fun.
The good things about these websites, they include detailed instructions and weights in grams as well as imperial measurements. And they don’t have an absolute bonkers amount of pop-up ads. I have given up on some the smaller baking blogs for that reason.
As for my go-to cookie that is my absolute favorite, it’s a very simple gingersnap recipe that is not too different from your murder cookies.
https://www.paradisefruitco.com/recipe/crystallized-ginger-recipe-ginger-snaps/
They’re very easy and really the only surprise ingredient is crystalized ginger, but I love giving them out b/c they always surprise people with their deliciousness hidden by a humble exterior and become favorites. I only make them near Christmas (even though my family whines about it) b/c I want them to stay special.
Apple cider caramel cookies. Yum.
An adjustable measuring cup is also useful for measuring out things like molasses, vegetable oil, and peanut butter. I use a Wonder Cup https://www.amazon.com/Wonder-Cup-Two-Adjustable-Measuring/dp/B000I21N7O
and it is very useful being able to push the sticky substance out from the bottom.
Now I’m hungry for cookies! Thanks for a fun post, Sarah.
@Jill Q, Sally’s Baking Addiction in a terrific site.
I’ve recently become obsessed with How to Get Away With Murder after learning it’s the show Murderbot’s favorite Sanctuary Moon is based on. This seems like a good baking project to make while binging.
And I am right now this minute wearing my “Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon” tshirt!
Clearly I need to listen to Murderbot and go make More Cookies right now.
Two of my favorite things: baking and Ben’s books in audio! Sadly, my stove is broken and must be replaced, so no baking for me. Here is a favorite recipe, though: chocolate caramel sea salt thumbprint cookies (though I use a wooden spoon handle for the thumbprint):
https://www.sunset.com/recipe/chocolate-thumbprints-caramel-sea-salt
I look forward to trying the Murder Cookies, just for the recipe name alone!
The go to, dough in the freezer cookie at my place is the cranberry chocolate chip from Rose’s Christmas Cookies by my favorite cookbook author, Rose Levy Beranbaum. When cranberries are in season I make a double batch and freeze 2/3 of it. I always froze them in balls, but this year I just wanted to be done and decided to try freezing it in a long cylinder a la Pillsbury. Worked brilliantly. The scoops can go in the oven frozen, the tubes as soon as you are able to slice them. Also, for out of season, dried cranberries or cherries work equally well. Fresh berries bake up soft, dried berries bake up crisp so make your choices base on your preference.
The Murder Cookies sound a bit like the molasses hermits I like to make (from The Settlement Cookbook). They’re my personal favorites; I also like their oatmeal cookie recipe, although I’d make them for my sister (who hated raisins) with butterscotch chips instead.
I recently made a batch of ANZAC biscuits with the recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. Interesting history, wonderful taste. Canadian version of GBBO starts today on CBC if you can get it.