I love a plate of delicious cookies, but I’ve never been too fond of how I feel after eating them all. I don’t often bake cookies for this reason. But specifically for this book, I’ve come up with an awesome soapy substitution: cookies that are good for your complexion, waistline, and will last more than one day.
These cookies are so beautiful and smell so good that when my eldest child walked into the room where I had just made them, he told me he couldn’t wait to taste one when I finished. I had to crush his dreams and tell him I was making soap.
For this recipe, we use real molasses, but you can choose to use either real spices or essential oils or no scent at all. One note about the essential oil blend I am sharing: these are spicy oils and when used in excess can actually burn the skin because they are literally hot spices. Also, be aware that we are using clove and your soap may thicken up quickly.
Ingredients:
7.6 oz distilled water
2.9 oz lye
8 oz olive oil
8 oz coconut oil
4 oz castor oil
2 tbsp molasses (I use organic blackstrap for its bonus health factors)
2 tbsp sugar
Recommended Scent Blend: Gingersnap Cookie
This is a lovely warming and circulatory-enhancing basic gingersnap cookie blend of scents.
• 100 drops ginger
• 40 drops cinnamon bark CO2
• 20 drops clove
Method:
SAFETY CHECK!
Cover your cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Weigh your water in a heatproof non-reactive bowl and your lye in a separate container. Take these outside in a well-ventilated, safe area and add your lye to your water, mixing thoroughly with a non-reactive spoon. Set in a safe spot to cool.
Meanwhile, weigh your oils and keep over medium heat until thoroughly melted. Remove from heat, add your scent blend, and 2 tablespoons of molasses.
Check that your lye and oil temperatures are both around 100°F to 110°F and blend your lye/water into your oils. Mix these thoroughly with a stick blender until you have a pudding-type thickness. Now you’ll need a spoon, two lined cookie sheets, and sugar. Drop about 2 tablespoons of soap batter onto your cookie sheet in an orderly yet staggered fashion. Sprinkle sugar over the tops of your soap cookies and leave out to set overnight.
At least 12 hours later, peel your soap cookies off the parchment. Set on a new sheet of parchment on your cookie sheet. Set aside to cure for 4 weeks or so.
Molasses for the Skin
Did you know molasses is amazing for your insides and your outsides? It’s rich in calcium, vitamin b6, manganese, iron, potassium, magnesium, and selenium. It’s anti-inflammatory and also a natural antioxidant that helps speed up the healing of skin, reduce acne, reduce hair loss, and soften skin—just to name a few benefits. I use it as a special treat for skin in this fantastic batch of soap cookies!
