I don't normally bake. At all. I generally fail miserably at baking. But my cousin JJ was in town a few weekends ago and brought us some Ultimate Ginger Cookies by our dear friend Ina. They were phenomenal. I mean it. Amazing. So I thought I'd try my hand at them. And they were divine! Mine were a bit dense - I might make them a little smaller next time, but otherwise, they were great!
Check out how thick that dough is...maybe I blended for too long and this why they were a bit dense? The instructions are fairly specific on how long to blend/cook. I'll be a bit more careful next time. And there will be a next time!
Ultimate Ginger Cookies
Makes 16 cookies - from Barefoot Contessa At Home
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups chopped crystallized ginger (6 oz) - (I couldn't find crystallized and used candied ginger from Trader Joe's.)
Granulated sugar, for rolling the cookies
Chopping the candied ginger took about 45 minutes - seriously SO sticky!! Ina's side note states that you want the dry crystallized ginger, not the wet kind. Word, Ina. Just tell me where to find it...Although, I loved the texture of the candied ginger in the cookies...
Instructions1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
2) In a large bow, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger (not the crystallized ginger), and salt and then combine the mixture with your hands. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar, oil and molasses on medium speed for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to low speed, add the egg, and beat for 1 minute. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat for 1 more minute. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the crystallized ginger and mix until combined.
3) Scoop the dough with 2 spoons or a small ice cream scoop. With your hands, roll each cookie into a 1 3/4-inch ball and then flatten them lightly with your fingers. Press both sides of each cookie in the granulated sugar and place them on the sheet pans. Bake for exactly 13 minutes. The cookies will be crackled on the top and soft inside. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for a minute or two, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Bon Appetit!
5 comments:
mmm, ginger cookies! This makes me so excited for fall cooking and baking!
I hear you on the ginger - I recently tried to make ginger banana bread, which sounds great in theory, but I seriously wanted to throw my knife into the wall after about 10 minutes of truing to chop the stuff! And then I ended up with some big chunks in the bread which made for some interesting bread - and not in a good way!! So if you find "dry" crystallized ginger, do share your source!
Sam
Megan, these look wonderful! Eric would LOVE them. I wish I could just stop by and have a few. I miss you! I love to read all about the fun things you are cooking. Love you!
hey - found the crystallized ginger in with all the other spices at the regular grocery store. It's in a jar the "typical" size as others and it was next to the ground ginger. I'm making these today - can't wait!
When I made these, the dough was really dense too. I kinda want more of them.
Oh yeah...and the crystallized ginger...WAY EXPENSIVE. So, might be worth chopping the sticky stuff. I bought both and the NINE dollar tiny bottle of crystallized ginger wasn't worth it.
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