Sometimes you need a pretty cookie, and sometimes you need a delicious one. And sometimes you need both.

These cookies are impressive-looking and are dangerously tasty. I’m warning you, you will definitely spoil your dinner. Now, let’s stop talking and get going.

Makes: About 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• Cookie dough
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 cups flour
• Filling
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tsp molasses
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

1. Prepare cookie dough
   • Cream together butter (1 cup) and sugar (1 cup) and whip until fluffy
   • Add egg (1), vanilla (1 tsp), and salt (1/2 tsp) and mix well
   • Add flour (3 cups) and mix just to form dough – do not overmix
   • Pat the dough into two flat-ish rectangles, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 minutes
2. Prepare filling
   • Stir together all ingredients and set aside to cool while the cookie dough chills in the fridge
3. Assembly and baking
   • Preheat oven to 350 degrees f
   • Line cookie sheets with parchment
   • Working one rectangle at a time, take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out into a rectangle-shape – about 1/4 inch/ half cm thick
   • Spread the filling over the rectangles of dough (half on each rectangle)
   • Roll each rectangle up to make a couple of coiled rolls (as if you were making cinnamon buns) – roll from the long-side, you want the rolls to be as long as possible
   • Thinly slice the rectangles into discs, and gently roll each disc with a rolling pin
   • Arrange the cookies on the prepared cookie sheets
   • Bake for 6-7 minutes, until they just barely start to bronze a little
   • Let firm up for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet, then let them cool the rest of the time on a wire rack

Notes:

• Is the cookie dough giving you a rough time while you try to work with it? Welcome to the club. Here are a few tricks to ease the frustration:
  • If the dough is tending to stick, flour the surface and your rolling pin
  • When that doesn’t work, give the dough more time to chill and you can also roll it between layers of parchment
  • If the dough wants to crack, give it a few minutes to warm up and then try again
  • When all else fails, take comfort in the fact that the more baking makes you swear, the more delicious it will be in the end