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cruzan dark rum

Bake It: Molasses, Cocoa Nib and Black Strap Rum Cookies

December 11, 2013 by elana 2 Comments

Molasses, Cocoa Nib & Black Strap Rum Cookies // stirandstrain.com

Santa gets cookies and a cocktail at our house.

Panic. Panic is setting in as I look at the calendar and realize that Christmas is in two weeks and I haven’t even sent out cards yet. But I did make a batch of holiday flavored cookies and my house smelt amazing the whole time. That should be all we need during the season, houses filled with the smells of cinnamon and ginger. And rum. Cookies should have rum in them too.

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2013

And I did that for my first time participating in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.

Secret Ingredient: RUM

Secret Ingredient: RUM

Molasses, Cocoa Nib & Black Strap Rum Cookies // stirandstrain.com

More secret ingredients: cocoa nibs

But you’re a cocktail blog! I know! But sometimes there are food goodies on here and this was for charity and also: I love cookies.

Fresh grind your cardamom please.

Fresh grind your cardamom please.

Right from the beginning of this challenge I knew I wanted to make molasses cookies. They ship well and combined with Black Strap Rum they are filled with deep, dark, molasses-y goodness. So that’s what I sent. Of course there was a hiccup; the first batch accidentally got much more cardamom then they should have and ended up in the garbage. Seriously guys, a little cardamom goes a LONG way. The next batch however was perfect: nicely spiced, smelled divine, and they were edible. The 3 recipients also got a couple extra cookies thrown in because they ended up being smaller than first anticipated and I am nice like that.Molasses, Cocoa Nib & Black Strap Rum Cookies // stirandstrain.com

Let’s get to the baking!

Yields about 60 1″ cookies
Recipe inspired by Williams Sonoma

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
12 tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1-1/2 tbsp. Cruzan Black Strap Rum
1/2 cup Valrhona Cocoa Nibs
1/2 cup white or clear sugar crystals

  1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom and salt. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg. Then beat in molasses, vanilla and rum. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing until blended. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Preheat an oven to 350° F.
  4. Cover 3 half sized sheet pans in parchment. Using a 100 size disher, scoop out cookie dough onto sheet pans. Once dough has been scooped, by hand round out scoops into balls, toss in a small bowl filled with the sugar crystals and flatten out the ball into discs about 1/4″ thick. Refrigerated for 20 minutes.
  5. Move the sheet pans directly from refrigerator into the pre-heated oven and bake for approximately 12 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and let cool on sheets for about 10 minutes and then transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
  7. Once cool, cookies can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Molasses, Cocoa Nib & Black Strap Rum Cookies // stirandstrain.comThe rum here accentuates the already present molasses. These are pretty much what I think of/what I want in a holiday cookie. They are fragrant with spices, not too sugary and are small enough that I can eat a handful without thinking twice. I hope all my recipients enjoyed their batches, and I hope that you try a batch this year.Molasses, Cocoa Nib & Black Strap Rum Cookies // stirandstrain.com

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Filed Under: Bake It, Recipes Tagged With: bake it, cardamom, cocoa nibs, cruzan dark rum, fbcookieswap, ginger, homemade gifts, molasses, vanilla

The Jungle Bird

November 23, 2011 by elana 2 Comments

I picked up a copy of Remixed by Beachbum Berry. I own, and have made many a drink from the Grog Log, but when shopping at Oceanic Arts for this year’s Tiki Party back in August I spotted and decided it’s worth having this too. Besides another cocktail book in there, I also just love browsing through all the photos and art.

Whenever I find myself with a half a jar of pineapple juice, or a nearly empty can of coconut cream, I consider it Tiki time in the house. Today it’s pineapple juice.

Coming out of the Intoxica! section, and because there’s Campari in it, I’m trying out and altering very slightly, the Jungle Bird.

3/4 oz Campari
1/2 oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 oz sugar syrup (I always make mine 1:1)
4 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
1-1/2 oz dark Cruzan rum

Garnish:
lime wedge
pineapple chunk

Combine all of the ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Add garnish.

The original cocktail recipe calls from dark Jamaican rum. I substituted Cruzan Dark rum instead, honestly I am very green when it comes to rum and couldn’t tell you what the differences are. So for differences and Rum love, check out these blogs here and here. I also changed the garnish from an orchid, and a cocktail cherry, lemon, and orange wheel to the lime wedge and pineapple. Generally I like the garnish to either be a hint of what’s in the drink or to complement it somehow. Also, I didn’t have any orchids in my possession at the time. Tasty notes on this: the Campari mellows way out in here (I’d even consider upping it to 1 oz next time to try), while the fruit juices make it sweet and tangy. While the rum has to be playing a role here, it takes a back seat as far as flavor. One last note- don’t be generous with the ice. I used an unusually large (well, at least for me) rocks glass here and filled 2/3 with ice. Once that ice started to melt it began to wash the flavor out a bit. Don’t let that happen to you! Use less ice or tip that baby back quick!

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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: campari, cruzan dark rum, lime, pineapple juice, tiki

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