Ginger Snaps
I attempted ginger snaps twice this year. The first attempt resulted in the molasses spice cookies that I wrote about in this post because I mistakenly read the vegetable oil and molasses quantities in reverse in that particular recipe and had to do a bunch of things to correct it to make it edible afterward. So, there will be no recipe for molasses spice cookies, just a lovely picture of them to be remembered as a happy accident of sorts.
This one takes a few liberties from a David Lebovitz recipe. Since the first time I made ginger snaps and didn’t have dried ginger, I’ve always used fresh. I just enjoy the flavor. I like this recipe to the other one I was experimenting with because I didn’t mess it up, and because it forms a lighter dough. I think I might throw some candied orange zest in here next time and few chunks of somethingerother.
They’re nice and warming cookies, perfect with a warm glass of milk after dinner or before bed to settle the stomach a bit.
- 2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 11 tablespoons (150g) butter, softened
- 2/3 cup (130g) sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup light molasses
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 2″ knob fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 1/2 cup coarse demerara (raw) sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice and black pepper.
- In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then add the vanilla, molasses and egg, continuing to beat until smooth.
- Mix in the ginger and dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until the dough is a cohesive mass, then chill the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour to firm up.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll into 1″ balls. Roll the balls in the coarse sugar and place on a parchment lined baking sheet several inches apart to account for spreading.
- Bake until a deep golden brown, about 12-14 minutes. Bake longer, until they look dry, for snappy cookies, bake a bit less to ensure a chewy cookie. Let the cookies cool before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
[...] is (or isn't) deemed worth eating.Recent PostsScottish ShortbreadChocolate MacaroonsLinzer CookiesGinger SnapsOrange and Fig BiscottiMocha Pistachio BiscottiRussian Tea CakesHoliday Treats 2010Braised Beef with [...]