Posted by on Oct 15, 2010 in Ginger Molasses | 2 comments

Lovejoy Bakers
939 NW 10th Ave – Portland
$1.75

I know, right?  Another ginger molasses cookie.  What can I say?  I can’t help myself.

I’m not saying I like this less or more than the two other Portland ginger molasseses I’ve talked about, and if asked to chose a favorite between the Pearl,  Crema and this version, I would be hard pressed.   I simply enjoy and appreciate it as a more than satisfactory variation on one of my favorite kinds of cookie.

As I was carefully considering its flavor and texture while sitting in the bakery one morning earlier this week,  popping dark, chewy bits into my mouth, I was hit with a powerful nuance of something familiar yet indistinguishable.  “What was that?  Not cinnamon.  Nutmeg?  Wait, it tastes sorta like root beer. Root beer?  What’s going on?   I think it works, though. I like it.” My friend and colleague, with whom I was meeting and discussing important work-related matters (just so you don’t think I sit around eating cookies on weekday mornings like some kind of bon vivant) and who also happens to be an avid taster of delicious things, agreed: “Yeah, I think you might be right.”

Okay, I just did a Wikipedia search for “root beer” and it turns out that several flavorings included in most ginger molasses cookies – cinnamon, cloves, vanilla and, yes, ginger –  are all common ingredients in old fashioned root beer.   So..the  ginger molasses cookie/root beer continuum: mystery solved.

Perhaps even more worth noting  is the fact that this most definitely is not a ginger snap.  That is to say, it is soft, pliable and is perfectly moist in the middle – and when you break it apart, no crumbs are shed.  It is a clean cookie, one you could handily eat while driving, if that’s your style.  I recommend, however, not multi-tasking this particular ginger molasses experience; instead, put it on a pretty little plate, find a cup of something nice to drink, sit your bottom down and give this very lovely, dark chewy number the quality time it deserves.