My best recipes: Molasses Cookies with Chopped Candied Ginger

Molasses Cookies with Chopped Candied Ginger

Adapted from Great Cookies by Carole Walter

◦  1 1/2 sticks, unsalted butter

◦  2 cups all-purpose flour

◦  2 teaspoons baking soda

◦  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

◦  1 teaspoon ground ginger

◦  3/4 teaspoon salt

◦  1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

◦  1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus more for rolling cookies in

◦  1/4 cup dark molasses (85 g)

◦  1 large egg

◦  1/3 to 1/2 cup finelychopped candied ginger

Directions

1.Melt the butter in a 3 quart, heavy saucepan over low heat.

2.Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and cloves and then set it aside.

3.Using a wooden spoon, stir 1 1/2 cups of the sugar, molasses, and egg into the butter, mixing until smooth. Add the dry ingredients, one-half at a time, and blend well.  Put the dough in a large plastic freezer bag, or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes until firm.

4.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line two cookie sheets with parchment.

5.Shape the dough into 1-inch balls or you can use an ice cream scoop to form the balls. (or you can make 2/3 inch balls, which don’t spread quite as much.) Place some sugar in a shallow bowl, and roll the dough balls in the sugar to coat them. Place the balls on the prepared cookie sheets 2 inches apart from each other as they will spread. 

6.Bake the cookies for 8-12 minutes until the tops begin to crack. Remove from the oven and leave them on the cookie sheets for three minutes and then remove the cookies with a thin metal spatula to cool on a rack.

Makes 24 big cookies or 48 small ones

Tips

These cookies freeze really well. You can store them in an airtight container, just layer the cookies with wax paper in between and they should last up to 3 weeks.

All cookies need to be the same size so that they will bake evenly. To insure that all your cookies will be the same size, use an ice cream scoop.

If you’re shipping your homemade cookies for the holidays, these ship extremely well.

The dough keeps in the fridge for at least a week. 

You can order finely chopped candied ginger at Nuts.com 

Original version of this recipe at Mama's Gotta Bake. 

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