Thursday, January 11, 2007
Holiday Ginger Cookies
So, a while back I set off on a quest to find My Christmas Cookie, trying various recipes (Thai Coconut Snowballs! Cocoa "Snowflakes"!), running through baking products (>4 lbs of sugar), grilling my friends for suggestions (rum balls x 10), etc. I learned a few things about cookies...
* Except in extraordinary cases or hidden jams/candies, most cookies taste exactly the same. They're either chocolatey dough or non-chocolatey dough.
* In most cases, rolling a cookie in something before or after cooking it does absolutely nothing for the cookie. It does, however, add a lot of time to your task and leave your palms coated in dough.
* Most signature holiday cookies are only made once a year because they are excruciating to make and still mainly just taste like a cookie. Seriously, shaping the cookie like a teaspoon does not make it taste better and you really don't get extra points for being a cookie martyr.
* Just because you're required to roll it into a little ball doesn't mean it will flatten out, no matter what the picture implies.
* There is no such thing as a "1 inch ball". What does that even mean? 1" diameter? 1" circumference? Who knows.
* You will never, ever make as many cookies as the recipe says you will at the size it says you need to make. 5 dozen? Try 3 dozen. And when you're making batches to divide as gifts, that's a significant difference.
Anyway, I was pretty disgruntled about the whole Christmas Cookie Experience, when I ran across a ginger cookie recipe that turned out to be everything it promised. I tweaked it a little, and voila. It's simple and turns out plenty of pretty, sparkly, slightly crackled cookies. I won't say how many though, because of course it varies every single time, depending on how big or small you make that "1 inch ball."
Ginger Cookies
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup + 1/8 cup softened margarine
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
sugar for rolling
cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the sugar and margarine with a mixer until well blended and add in molasses and egg. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients and add gradually while blending or stirring. Then divide the mix in half or thirds, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes (makes it easier to roll).
Roll the hardened dough into balls and then roll in the sugar. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and place the cookies every couple of inches. Bake for 12 minutes or til browned, cool on a wire rack.
Final note: I covered the baking sheet with aluminum foil, then cooking spray. That way after a batch cooked, I could just slide the foil off and slide the next batch on. Otherwise you'll need at least 3 cookie sheets.
* Except in extraordinary cases or hidden jams/candies, most cookies taste exactly the same. They're either chocolatey dough or non-chocolatey dough.
* In most cases, rolling a cookie in something before or after cooking it does absolutely nothing for the cookie. It does, however, add a lot of time to your task and leave your palms coated in dough.
* Most signature holiday cookies are only made once a year because they are excruciating to make and still mainly just taste like a cookie. Seriously, shaping the cookie like a teaspoon does not make it taste better and you really don't get extra points for being a cookie martyr.
* Just because you're required to roll it into a little ball doesn't mean it will flatten out, no matter what the picture implies.
* There is no such thing as a "1 inch ball". What does that even mean? 1" diameter? 1" circumference? Who knows.
* You will never, ever make as many cookies as the recipe says you will at the size it says you need to make. 5 dozen? Try 3 dozen. And when you're making batches to divide as gifts, that's a significant difference.
Anyway, I was pretty disgruntled about the whole Christmas Cookie Experience, when I ran across a ginger cookie recipe that turned out to be everything it promised. I tweaked it a little, and voila. It's simple and turns out plenty of pretty, sparkly, slightly crackled cookies. I won't say how many though, because of course it varies every single time, depending on how big or small you make that "1 inch ball."
Ginger Cookies
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup + 1/8 cup softened margarine
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
sugar for rolling
cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the sugar and margarine with a mixer until well blended and add in molasses and egg. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients and add gradually while blending or stirring. Then divide the mix in half or thirds, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes (makes it easier to roll).
Roll the hardened dough into balls and then roll in the sugar. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and place the cookies every couple of inches. Bake for 12 minutes or til browned, cool on a wire rack.
Final note: I covered the baking sheet with aluminum foil, then cooking spray. That way after a batch cooked, I could just slide the foil off and slide the next batch on. Otherwise you'll need at least 3 cookie sheets.
Labels: recipes
Comments:
Great recipe thanks for sharing makes a change from the usual chocolate chip cookies i make. Nice things i didnt know about cookies.
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