I’d like to call these cookies gingersnaps, but that would be a misnomer. These ginger cookies don’t snap at all. They chew. And they chew good, if you don’t mind my saying so. I’ve been making them around the holidays for the past eight or so years, and every time I pawn them off on my friends, they get rave reviews. I’m not much of a traditional Christmas cookie baker, so I tend to gift out chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, and these little bits of ginger heaven, in addition to baked breads and, this year, apple cakes. This recipe is quick and easy, and is originally from the back of a Ginger People crystallized ginger canister so I have to say, I’m happy to document it here in order that I can finally throw away the eight-year old canister that is one of many items cluttering my already too small kitchen space.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup dark molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/3 cup crystallized ginger, cut into a fine dice
- Approximately 1/3 cup turbinado sugar for coating cookies in prior to baking. If you don't have turbinado sugar, which is frequently sold as Sugar in the Raw, granulated sugar is a fine substitute. I like the texture of the turbinado better, however, and it doesn't hurt that it's a larger grain, and therefore more sparkle-y than granulated, but sugar coating is sugar coating when you get right down to it.
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, molasses, and egg.
- In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground cloves. Stir well to combine.
- Add the flour mixture to the sugar-molasses mixture and stir well to combine. Mix in the crystallized ginger bits and refrigerate for one hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Grease a large, rimmed baking sheet and set aside.
- Roll dough into one-inch balls, and then roll in sugar to coat completely. Set on baking sheet, two inches apart from one another. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are browned. The middle of the cookie may be somewhat puffy when you remove them, but they will flatten out and reward you with fantastic gingery chewiness.
Dinner tonight: As it is Sunday, we are having our big, fancy meal of the week. Tonight, we will have a roasted chicken with mushroom risotto and sauteed mushrooms. I’m feeling the funghi this weekend, as you can see. Estimated cost for two: $10.26. Not bad for the fancy meal of the week, wouldn’t you agree? The chicken is $4.38, and we’ll eat about half of that. The other half will make up JR’s lunch for the short holiday week in the form of chicken salad. The risotto consists of Carnaroli rice for about 80-cents for the two of us. The butter used will be about 44-cents. The shallot we’ll call 50-cents. The mushroom broth, which I purchased and which is not the Whole Foods store brand was $2.79 for 4 cups. We’ll use 5 or 6 cups, so that’s $4.19, rounding up. I’m going to use grated pecorino romano in place of Parmigiano-Reggiano as it’s about five dollars less per pound, and I’ll use about two dollar’s worth. The wine will be spilled in from the bottle I’m drinking tonight, so at $10.99 for 3 cups (there are roughly 3 cups of wine in a 750ml bottle) that’s about 1.83 for a half cup. I’ll be sad to see it go, but I’m sure I’ll make do. Plus, the risotto will be more delicious for the sacrifice. Both the mushrooms being sauteed and those being added into the risotto were $1.95 for a package. I’ll use about 1 and a half packages, with the half-package going into the risotto, so we’ll call that $2.93 for all mushrooms, 98-cents of which has been tallied into the risotto tab. The total for four servings of risotto is $10.74, so $2.68 for 1 serving, and $5.37 for two servings. I will use a little bit of cream in the sauteed mushrooms, so at $2.99 for 2 cups, a half-cup (which I think is generous for this use), is 75-cents. I’ve been in an apple cake baking frenzy, and I didn’t neglect our apple cake addiction in my baking, so I currently have three to give away for Christmas, and 1 for us to keep us in desserts until Christmas. We’ll be having that tonight in front of the fire, keeping warm as the next 4 inches of snow falls. I hope you’ll be warm and toasty, too.
McCoy! Did I tell you I made these for John's family for Thanksgiving? BIG HIT! They loved them. (So did I…ate about 17 of them myself.) I also made them with Blackstrap molasses, instead of regular, by mistake and they still turned out delish. You are a goddess! -Scan