Christmas without gingerbread is like a birthday without cake...sad.
Every year I envision myself baking an edible masterpiece with nothing more than heavily spiced cookie dough and royal icing, and every year my grand scheme is thwarted by Father Time.
And going into the holiday season, it doesn’t matter how organized I think I am, I always end up in a yuletide panic right about now. My house looks like the aftermath of a tsunami and if anyone would happen to stop by, I would just die...or swear that our home was burglarized, and I’m really not sure what they were looking for, but nothing was taken.
The most time consuming process, by far, is making myself presentable for holiday parties. It takes a lot of effort transforming my deranged, exhausted self into a somewhat normal human being, one that does not smell like a combination of stressful perspiration and a Douglas fir scented holiday candle;.
But, there will still be time for a batch of cookies, like this recipe, which is just perfect for those of us who are short on time but big on holiday spirit.
This cookie is not the fussy kind of gingerbread. It's not destined for a gingerbread house. It's not meant to be rolled or cut into various gingerbread people. It is a drop cookie, totally stress free.
It has a soft texture and bold flavors like cinnamon and cloves. Molasses is the key to a wonderful deep, rich flavor.
There is one secret ingredient that really makes this cookie special, mustard powder. You won’t necessarily notice the taste of the mustard powder, but you will notice a real depth of flavor and a little heat.
Mustard powder in gingerbread is unusual, but not a new concept. It is featured in many old school gingerbread recipes. Our great-great-grandparents were the original foodies.
The cookie dough comes together quickly, but it does need time to chill before baking. This will prevent the dreaded cookie spread, where all the cookies start out as individual cookies, but bake into one giant cookie blob.
Chill the dough for a few hours or a few days. The unbaked dough also freezes well.
These cookies are soft, but have a nice crunch, thanks to coarse sanding sugar. Sanding sugar is regular sugar on a binge. The crystals are noticeably larger and unlike regular granulated sugar, they keep their shape even when baked. The sugar adds that sparkly, glittery quality as if sprinkled by the sugarplum fairy herself. Magical.
Regular granulated sugar will work too, but you won’t have sparkles. I tried turbinado sugar. Same deal. No sparkle after baking.
I managed to squirrel a few cookies away for Santa; here’s hoping it gets me off the naughty list.
Soft Ginger-Molasses Cookies
INGREDIENTS
- 2 ¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon mustard powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- ½ cup sanding sugar or regular sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, mustard powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and light brown sugar until fluffy. Add molasses and mix until incorporated. Add the egg and mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until combined. Dough will appear dry at first, but it will come together.
- Form dough into one-inch balls. Refrigerate until dough is well chilled, about 2 hours or up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment or silicone liner. Roll the cookie balls in the sanding sugar until coated.
- Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes until cookies are puffed and lightly brown on the bottom.
- Remove from oven. Let cool 10 minutes then remove cookies to a cooling rack.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
This post was originally published on A Bucks County Kitchen
No comments:
Post a Comment