Galettes à la mélasse - Family Favorite!!!!

A little while back, I asked my mother to send me our favorite family recipes so I could put them on the blog.  She quickly obliged and sat down at the kitchen table to neatly and clearly write them out for me.  I received them a few days later in the mail with a lovely note (it still makes me happy to receive something in the mail - thanks mom).

I will share them all with you but this first one is definitely one of our favorites.   These large, moist, slightly spicy cookies made with molasses (treacle) are more of a wonderful snack than a desert and have become, in the last few years, a favorite choice for breakfast.

My mother makes huge batches of these and then carefully and equally separates them in baggies for us to take home.  There are some for my family, my brother's family and my sister's family.  Now, she even makes a special batch for Kat to take back to university with her. When we get up in the morning and I tell everyone that we have galettes à la mélasse, I always get a smile and usually an ''oh cool, amazing!'' comment from Kat. This generosity and love from my mom seems to make her just as happy as it makes us and, for me, this is the true spirit of cooking and what she has taught me.

Mama Toni and Sarah ♥

You will need:  For 18 large galettes

• 240 ml (1 cup) of molasses
• 160 g (1 cup) of brown sugar
• 240 g (1 cup) of melted unsalted butter
• 240 ml (1 cup) of butter milk (add 1 tbsp of vinegar to regular milk to make buttermilk)
• 3 tsp of baking soda
• large pinch of salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 4.5 tsps of ground ginger
• 690g or more (5 cups or more) of white flour

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1. Heat oven to 185˚C (350˚F);
2. Make your buttermilk by adding1 tbsp of vinegar  to one cup of whole milk.  Let sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients;
3. Put the molasses in a large bowl and add the baking soda.  Mix well;
4. Add the brown sugar, the beaten egg and the melted butter, mix well;
5. In a separate bowl, add the salt and ginger to the flour and combine;
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mix well.  Add 1/3 of the buttermilk to the batter and mix well.  Continue alternating adding the flour and buttermilk (mix well after you add each) until all the ingredients are well blended;
7. The dough should be a little sticky but hold together well enough to be rolled out.  If you find you do not have this texture, continue to add flour until this is possible;
8. Transfer dough to a well floured work surface and roll out to about 1.5 inches (3 cm) thick;
9. Using a large round cookie cutter (or a glass) cut out galette shapes (dip the cookie cutter in flour to prevent sticking);
10. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet;
11. Bake for 20 minutes in the center of the oven.  Transfer to a cooling rack.

Time Investment:  Prep. time:  20 minutes, Cooking time:  20 minutes, Total:  40 minutes