For as long as I can remember, ginger cookies have been my favorite cookie in the world. My mom made killer ones and I have always used her recipe, the only thing is, her recipe doesn’t actually use any ginger. I have experimented and added fresh ginger and it turned out really yummy but a little flat. So I saw a recipe on Chow the other day that does use ginger and thought I might venture out and try it.
While making the new ginger cookies, I slightly diverted from the directions by adding fresh ginger in addition to ground ginger and I used freshly ground cloves. When the cookies came out of the oven, they looked beautiful. They were slightly cracked on the top and the sugar sparkled. I could only wait about 3 minutes before trying them. Oh boy, the texture was absolutely perfect. They were crispy on the outside and warm and chewy on the inside. The flavor was nice, but I feel like they lacked pizazz… I need a little zip in them. I think next time I would double the cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
In the end, the new recipe has good flavor and an awesome texture, but it just can’t replace my mom’s gingerless ginger cookies.
Super Sized Ginger Cookies from chow.com
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
About 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and brown sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the egg and molasses, and mix until blended and an even light brown color, about 1 minute. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it.
3. Spread the granulated sugar on a large piece of wax or parchment paper. Roll 1/4 cup of dough between the palms of your hands into a 2-inch ball, roll the ball in the sugar, and place on one of the prepared baking sheets. Continue making cookies, spacing them 2 inches apart.
4.Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm but they are still soft in the center and there are several large cracks on top, about 14 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
My mom’s Ginger Cookies*
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening or butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1. Preheat the over to 375
2. Mix all ingredients and chill.
3. Pour some sugar on a plate and rolls dough into small balls and then roll dough into sugar.
4. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 min.
5. For softer cookies, remove from oven when they look puffy. For harder cookies, bake a little longer.
*I just have to laugh at my mom’s instructions. Almost every recipe she gave me has the least amount of instructions possible. For instance, look at chow’s instructions 2.-3. and then there’s my mom’s that just says mix well.
pancakes
Mmmmm. I had some extra time at home this morning so I decided to make some blueberry pancakes. I usually just make regular pancakes, but on my trip up north last month I had blueberries added and they were so yummy. So I picked up some frozen berries at the store the other day and added them to the batter.
I think it’s kind of hard to make bad pancakes, but these were super yummy. I added a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and some vanilla to my batter and it added great flavor.
Here’s the recipes from the Joy of Cooking:
Whisk together in a large bowl:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
Combine in another bowl:
1 1/2 cups milk
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
blueberries
1
Mix the liquid ingredients quickly into the dry ingredients.
2
Use about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake and quickly sprinkle a handful of blueberries over the batter as it’s cooking.