The holiday cookie assortment is a complicated beast. It has to be a perfect mix of colors, shapes, textures and flavors. Opening a tin with 50 shades of brown is simply not festive. You want cookies that shine and sparkle, that dazzle. But there is one standard that I think should absolutely be in every holiday assortment: some kind of ginger/spice cookie. On this I stand firm. It is the cookie of the season and you simply cannot leave it out. This is that cookie. Yes, it is brown.
So far, we’ve taken a basic butter cookie dough and turned it, with a few simple additions, into jewel-like thumbprints, spicy chocolate drops, buttery caramel bars and shimmery fruit and nut coins. Today, for Day 5, we’re going to take that same blank canvas of a dough and turn it into a classic ginger spice cookie. Into that dough will go bits of candied ginger and a bunch of holiday baking spices: ginger, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. It’s not the prettiest cookie of the bunch with it’s bumps and cracks. It won’t dazzle you with it’s good looks but it will taste really good. It’s the sneaky one of the bunch. It’s Christmas in one bite.
The important thing here is not to overbake these little nubbins. They are at their best with a slight, soft chew as the spiciness of the ginger really shines. Don’t get me wrong, a crispy cookie is still good but a chewy one is so much better. To make them a little more special, I give them a little roll before baking in large grain, turbinado sugar. It looks pretty but more importantly, it adds a delightful crunch to the chewy cookie. You can find it in your grocery store (look for “Sugar in the Raw”) or at Trader Joe’s and probably many other places. And I won’t judge if you put a few packets in your pocket each time you stop at Starbucks. Gotta do what you gotta do.
The best plan for this one is to roll the dough into balls and freeze on a sheet pan until firm. Once frozen, transfer to a Ziploc bag, write the name and baking time/temperature on the bag and stash back in the freezer. You now have cookies ready to go at a moments notice and they can stay in the freezer for months. Yet again, another time and sanity saver. I got your back.
STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: FA LA LA LA LA. Ginger spice cookies make me want to sing carols at the top of my lungs and figure out what “a wassilin’ we will go” means. Maybe one day I will go a wassilin’. There is something so warm, so comforting, so damn Christmas-y about these cookies they’ll fit right into whatever that situation is. You have to have them.
12 Days of Cookies:
Cookie Prep – Basic Butter Cookie Dough
Day 1 – Jam Thumbprints
Day 2 – Mexican Chocolate Crinkles
Day 3 – Butter Rum Bars
Day 4 – Cranberry Pistachio Coins
2015 12 Days of Cookies: Pretzel Caramel Shortbread, Fig Mezzaluna, Dutch Windmills,Bourbon Peach Rugelah, Chai Spiced Meringue Kisses, Almond Joy Bars, Swedish Kringla, Chile Lime Macaroons, Orange Cranberry Cornmeal Shortbread, Eggnog Buttons, Ginger Palmiers, Rainbow Cookies
seven years ago: Pumpkin Bundt Cake, Adventures in India
six years ago: Bacon Cheddar Gougeres
five years ago: Southern Cheese Straws, Cookbook Gift List
four years ago: Kale & Squash Salad
three years ago: Pumpkin Spice Granola
two years ago: Cider Apple Pie
last year: Caldo Verde (Portugese Kale Soup)
CANDIED GINGER SPICE COOKIES
Makes about 6 ½ dozen cookies, the recipe can be easily halved or doubled
½ batch basic butter cookies dough, room temperature
½ cup finely diced candied ginger
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup turbinado sugar, for rolling
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the room temperature cookie dough, candied ginger, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and baking soda until well combined.
- Roll the dough into Tablespoons sized balls. (if not ready to bake, freeze on a sheet pan until firm then transfer to a ziploc bag and freeze up to 3 months).
- When ready to bake preheat the oven to 350°F and line two sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking liners.
- Place the turbinado sugar in and empty pie tin and roll the balls in the sugar to evenly coat.
- Place the sugar coated balls 1″ apart on the prepared sheet pans.
- Bake 8-10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through until lightly golden brown. The cookies will still be slightly soft but set on the outside.
- Carefully slide the parchment or silicon sheets onto wire racks to cool.
- Do ahead: it’s best to make and freeze the dough and bake as needed rather than freeze baked cookies. Frozen dough will keep up to 3 months.
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