Joe Froggers

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer or hand mixer
• •Rolling pin
• •5 to 6 inch round cookie cutter or bowl
• •Rimmed baking sheets
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Combine the dry ingredients

   Whisk together the flour, ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and sea salt in a large bowl. The spices should be evenly distributed throughout the flour. Give it a smell. This blend should remind you of gingerbread but with more complexity, more depth.

2. 2

   Bloom the baking soda

   Stir the baking soda into the hot water until dissolved. Add the molasses and rum, whisking until the mixture is smooth and uniform. It will foam slightly when the soda hits the acidic molasses. This is good. Set aside.

   The water must be genuinely hot, near boiling. This activates the baking soda and helps it integrate with the molasses.
3. 3

   Cream butter and sugar

   In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), beat the softened butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl halfway through. The mixture should look pale and increased in volume.

4. 4

   Add the wet ingredients

   With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the molasses mixture. The batter will look curdled and strange. Don't panic. This is normal. Keep mixing until everything comes together into a dark, glossy slurry.

5. 5

   Build the dough

   Add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing on low speed after each until just combined. The dough will be soft, sticky, and deeply aromatic. Taste a small bit. You should detect molasses first, then warm spice, then a subtle rum note at the finish. The salt should enhance, not dominate.

6. 6

   Chill the dough

   Divide the dough in half and flatten each portion into a thick disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. This rest is not optional. The dough must be thoroughly chilled to roll and cut properly, and the flavors need time to meld.

   The dough keeps refrigerated for up to 5 days. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling.
7. 7

   Roll and cut

   Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one disk at a time (keep the other refrigerated), roll the dough on a well-floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. The dough resists. Be patient. Cut into 5 to 6 inch rounds using a large cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, or the rim of a bowl. Gather scraps, chill briefly, and reroll once.

   If your kitchen is warm and the dough softens while rolling, slide it onto a baking sheet and chill for 15 minutes before cutting.
8. 8

   Sugar and space

   Sprinkle both sides of each cookie lightly with granulated sugar. Transfer to prepared baking sheets, spacing at least 2 inches apart. These spread modestly, but their size demands respect. Three cookies per standard sheet is about right.

9. 9

   Bake to perfection

   Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through. The cookies are done when the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone. They'll feel soft when you press them. This is exactly right. They firm as they cool but stay chewy inside. Pull them too early and they're raw. Too late and you've lost that trademark chew.

10. 10

    Cool completely

    Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. They're fragile when hot. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before storing. The texture improves after a day. Like the sailors discovered, these cookies are actually better on day two or three than fresh from the oven.

Chef Tips

• •Use robust or full-flavored molasses, not blackstrap. Blackstrap is too bitter and will overwhelm the spices. Grandma's or Brer Rabbit are reliable choices.
• •The rum matters. Use a dark rum with some character. Mount Gay, Gosling's, or Myers's all work beautifully. Save your aged sipping rum for drinking.
• •If you must omit the alcohol, substitute 2 tablespoons of water plus 1 tablespoon of rum extract. The cookies will keep less time, but the flavor will approximate the original.
• •Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks. The molasses and trace alcohol act as natural preservatives, just as they did for Joseph Brown's sailors.

Advance Preparation

• •Dough must be refrigerated at least 4 hours, but overnight is better. Plan accordingly.
• •Unbaked dough keeps refrigerated up to 5 days or frozen up to 3 months.
• •Baked cookies actually improve after a day or two and keep at room temperature for 3 weeks in an airtight container.
• •Baked cookies freeze well for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature still wrapped.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 cookie (about 330g)