You’ll want to add these cookies to your holiday to-bake list — they taste like Christmas.
Everett’s South Fork Baking Co., which recently marked its first anniversary in a waterfront shop, specializes in scratch-made cakes, breads, pastries and cookies. Around this time of year, the Ginger Molasses Cookie is the bakery’s bestseller.
“It’s very popular,” said Katherine Hillmann, owner-operator of the bakery. “We get pushback if it’s not there.”
It’s no surprise: Molasses cookies have been America’s hallmark of the holidays since the Civil War.
Sugar was rationed during the war between the states, making it expensive and hard to find. Molasses was a more common and not-so-pricey alternative to sugar — and it made a softer and chewier cookie.
When it was time to leave out cookies for Santa, most were baked with molasses.
South Fork’s recipe features a blend of warming spices, the rich-and-smoky sweetness of molasses and a crackly appearance made from a roll in sugar. The cookies are soft and chewy, spicy and sweet.
Hillmann, 33, founded South Fork Baking Co. in 2017, baking from scratch in her Arlington kitchen with the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River in her backyard. Six years later, she opened her own bakery overlooking Port Gardner Bay at the Port of Everett’s Waterfront Place.
South Fork’s baked goods are also available at The Loft Coffee Bar in Everett, Home Run Espresso in Lake Stevens, Brewers Coffee Co. in Snohomish, Monte Cristo Espresso in Granite Falls and Locals Espresso in Arlington, among others.
Time for a switch
Before South Fork, Hillmann had been miserable in her job as a media and marketing manager and decided it was time for a career switch. She founded South Fork and baked on the side for a year before quitting her marketing gig in 2018. Hillmann worked at three Snohomish County bakeries to learn the trade while building up her own business.
“I got my cottage food license, started selling cakes and cupcakes, and doing weddings,” she said. “ It quickly outgrew my home.”
In 2020, South Fork moved to a commercial kitchen at the Everett Station. At that time, the bakery had just two employees – Hillmann and Kody Buno.
Buno, 25, of Lake Stevens, has been with South Fork since the start. As production manager, he oversees the company’s bakery and wholesale lines.
“Katherine contacted me and offered me a position,” he said. “It was an amazing opportunity to learn so much about opening and running a cafe.”
Today, South Fork employs 11 staffers — and they get to vote on each season’s specials.
This winter at South Fork, you’ll also find Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies; Biscoff Cream Twice Baked Croissants; Fig, Bacon and Gruyere Danishes; and Nutella Crunch Brownies in the pastry case.
The Ginger Molasses Cookie doesn’t need a vote because it’s South Fork’s holiday hit.
“The molasses cookie, we like to keep it through Christmastime,” Buno said. “So after Thanksgiving, through Christmas and through the New Year.”
Hillmann and Buno met while working together at Red Twig Bakery and Cafe in Edmonds. They were baking Hillmann’s Ginger Molasses Cookies back then, too.
“I developed that recipe at Red Twig, and I’ve carried it with me ever since,” she said. “That’s the way it happens when you’re a baker; you create things at one place and then they’re in your back pocket.”
Just like they were made during the Civil War to cut costs, Hillmann’s recipe doesn’t call for white sugar.
South Fork Baking Co.’s Ginger Molasses Cookies
These bake-from-frozen cookies feature a blend of warming spices, the rich-and-smoky sweetness of molasses and a crackly appearance made from a roll in sugar. Each one is bakery-sized — or a satisfying 4-inch treat.
Ingredients
Note: Hillmann highly recommends weighing ingredients with a kitchen scale instead of measuring by volume because it yields a more consistent and reliable bake. However, spoon and cup conversions have been provided here (via Allrecipes.com) in case you don’t own a scale.
• 500 grams (3½ cups +1 Tablespoon) all-purpose flour
• 20 grams (1 Tablespoon + ½ teaspoon) baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground clove
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 227 grams (2 sticks or 1 cup) room-temperature butter
• 225 grams (1⅓ cup, packed) brown sugar
• 117 grams (⅓ cup) molasses (not blackstrap)
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Raw (turbinado) or granulated sugar, for garnish
Preparing the dough: In a medium bowl, whip the butter and brown sugar together with a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 5 minutes on medium-high speed. Scrape the bowl well about halfway through.
Add the molasses, eggs and vanilla, then mix on medium until fully combined. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, clove, ginger and cinnamon together. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer. Mix until the dough is just fully combined. Scrape the bowl well to be sure all the ingredients are incorporated.
Portion the dough into balls with a 3.25-ounce cookie or ice cream scoop. If you don’t have a scoop, weigh the dough and roll it into 90-gram balls. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, place the dough balls about 1 inch apart. Lay another piece of parchment over the top of the portioned dough and press lightly on top of each one to slightly flatten out the balls.
Put the prepared dough in the freezer for at least 6 hours. Note: Don’t skip this step! Freezing helps mature the dough and ensures you get fluffy cookies that don’t spread too far. Want to make these ahead of time? The dough balls can be frozen for up to 1 month in advance. Once frozen, put them in an airtight container or zip-top bag for freezer storage.
Baking the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour your preferred garnishing sugar into a bowl. (Raw sugar provides a nice crunchy cookie texture while granulated sugar gives a snickerdoodle-like finish.) Toss each frozen dough ball in the sugar until completely coated.
Place the sugared dough on a parchment-lined baking tray about 2-3 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes. Note: Bake from frozen for best results. Cookies that aren’t frozen will spread too far and may overbake. Let them cool for another 15 minutes.
Makes about 15 cookies.
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