Molasses Crinkles

I promised this recipe to Cindy M. This was a favorite recipe of my mother's. I don't know where it came from. I have tweaked it a bit.

Molasses Crinkles
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cup unsifted flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 cup white sugar
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes in a stand mixer, longer with a hand mixer. Add egg and then molasses. Whisk all dry ingredients, except white sugar, together in a bowl and then add. Chill several hours or overnight. Shape into balls the size of walnuts, dip into white sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass. Bake at 375° for 11 to 12 minutes.

My New and Improved Pumpkin Pie

When it came time to make a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving this year I decided that the time had come to improve on my mother's recipe that I had been using for years. I don't like using evaporated milk like she always did and I wanted to up the spice a bit. I ended up combining recipes from Cooks Illustrated Magazine's cookbook and the Simply Recipes Blog, plus a bit of variation of my own.

Pumpkin Pie

single pie crust, partially baked if you like

1 cup dark brown sugar

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 cups pumpkin puree (16 oz)

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat the eggs in another bowl. Stir in the cream to the eggs and then the pumpkin. Stir in the dry ingredients. Pour filling into crust and bake in a preheated oven at 400º 45 to 50 minutes, until the filling is set 2" from edge. The center should still be wobbly. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. The center will finish cooking as the pie sits.