Saturday, December 16, 2006

The Best Ginger Cookies Evah!

I got these cookies from my swap buddy. Normally, I have never been a huge ginger cookie fan. But apparently, I've just never had the good ones. Gingersnaps, gingerbread, I've always been on the fence with them. I enjoy them, don't get me wrong on that. But give me a choice between a ginger cookie and one with chocolate, the ginger loses. Until I tried these cookies. These are so chock full of ginger, that at first glance, the recipe seems a little scary. I mean, a whole tablespoon of ginger? 3/4 of a cup of chopped crystallized ginger? That's a lot of ginger!!!

Credit for these cookies actually goes to Music and Cats, a blogger who sent Erin these cookies in a prior BBM. And I am so glad she did. Follow the recipe exactly. I promise that you will be rewarded with the most decadent ginger cookies you've ever tasted, AND you will have a really pretty cookie to add to your cookie platters.

Ginger Spice Cookies (a.k.a. the best ginger cookies evah)
adapted from Epicurious.com

makes about 30 cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup crystallized ginger
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup mild-flavored (light) molasses

Turbinado sugar

Combine first 7 ingredients in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Chop the crystallized ginger finely; mix into dry ingredients. (To keep the ginger from clumping together, sprinkle pieces across the top of the flour mixture, then fold in.) With an electric mixer, beat brown sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add egg and molasses and beat until blended. Add flour mixture; stir just until blended. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter baking sheet. Pour turbinado sugar into a thick layer on a small plate. (Regular granulated sugar will work for this, too, though the larger crystals of the turbinado add an extra crunch to the cookie.) Using wet hands, form dough into 1 1/4-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat completely. Place dough balls on cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. (I made my balls more like 1-inch, and ended up with about 48 cookies.)

Bake cookies until tops are cracked but still soft to the touch, 11-12 minutes. Cool on sheets for a minute or two, then transfer to racks and cool. Store in airtight container to maintain outer shell’s crunch… if they last that long.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Yum! I still haven't gotten any crystallized ginger. Maybe I will over the break! I'm making some ginger cookies for my Christmas baking.

Erika W. said...

Have fun with your baking Claire! These ones definitely need the crystallized ginger though... :-)

Anonymous said...

Oh, how I love these cookies! I've always been a big fan of gingerbread, but this is the first ginger cookie I've baked that I wanted to make again. I'm so glad that they've been such a hit with everyone who has tried them.

Erika W. said...

Kimberly, thanks so much for sharing the recipe! They really are wonderful, and everyone I've given them too so far has loooooved them.

Vanessa said...

Erika and Kimberly...these are fabulous! I made one change, I added a tablespoon of cardamom (plus the tablespoon of ginger) because I just learned its a member of the ginger family. Try and see what you think. I thought it made them even better.

Erika W. said...

Vanessa, I'm so glad you tried them, and verrrry interesting about the cardamom. Hmm...Guess I'm going to have to make another batch to give that a try. :-D

Erin said...

Success! Yay!

Thanks again, Kimberly, for sharing the cookies and the recipe. :)