Perfect not-too-sweet molasses cookies

One thing I've noticed about dessert recipes: there's almost always too much sugar. Actually, it's not just in the recipes - even in store-bought cookies and pastries, I always found the sugar overwhelming. No, I'm not a sugar hater. I just believe that we eat too much sugar in general. In fact, the average American consumes more than 20 teaspoons of added sugar each day. That's about half a cup of sugar every day, 3 and 1/2 cups of sugar every week and 15 cups of sugar per month. This means that an average family of four eats (drumroll) a grand total of 60 cups of sugar a month.

That's why, of all my cookie recipes, I especially love this one. It's got just enough sugar, a chewy texture and a delightful hint of ginger. If you actually can stop yourself from eating them right away, I really recommend that you store them in a cupboard overnight, because they're even better the next day.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
• In a large bowl, combine the oil and the sugar. Mix in the egg and molasses. In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Slowly stir the flour mixture into the oil mixture and mix until well combined.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls, slightly flatten and place about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes, until the bottom of the cookie is light brown. Cool on wire rack.

One of these days...

It's a rainy, humid, and rather unpleasant day. The kind of day when a headache is unevitable, and when you just want to recluse behind your computer screen or TV and forget about the ugly, depressing weather.

It's also the perfect day for an almond bundt cake. The batter takes minutes to put together, then you just shove it in the oven, wait an hour and enjoy.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup margarine
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
• 4 Tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup toasted slices almonds
  

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds. Set aside.
• In a mixer, cream together the margarine and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 teaspoons almond extract and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture and the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and invert on a wire rack. Cool 10 minutes longer. Place rack on waxed paper. Combine water and confectioner's sugar, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and toasted sliced almonds; pour over warm cake.