THE OTHER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE . . . CARAMELLY CRISP AND RICHLY CHOCOLATE

Posted on October 4, 2024 by admin

 

 

It’s a glorious fall day and overhead flocks of migratory geese are honking their way south. Their lonesome cries fill the air and remind me I should be thinking of tucking away brandy soaked Christmas cakes. And yet I continue to linger, watching their flight, and think of making cookies. A crunchy crisp, rich, chocolate chip cookie to nibble with a cup of tea.

I will whip butter fluffy and pale yellow. Add sugars, white and brown that caramelize beautifully in the oven. Into the bowl crack an egg, water (the secret for a thin cookie) and vanilla and whip again. The Callebaut chocolate chips will be whisked with the flour, salt and baking soda. Then added to the butter mixture and combined very well. So important to evenly distribute those rich chocolate chips.

Almost every cookie benefits from an overnight stay and this cookie is no exception. So I’ll tuck this dough into refrigerator overnight

(modified recipe from Pastry Love  Joanne Chang)

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES . . . RICH AND CRISPY THIN
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: drop cookie
Cuisine: North America
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: 42
A thin, crispy chocolate cookie, rich in butter and quality chocolate chips. The cookies have slightly salty edge and a delicious caramel flavour.
Ingredients
  • 225 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, the butter should be soft enough it retains the indentation of your finger.
  • 200 grams (1 cup) superfine sugar (you can make your own in a food processor)
  • 110 grams (1/2 cup firmly packed) light brown sugar,
  • 1 large egg (about 50 grams) generally the smallest egg in your carton of large eggs. Room temperature please.
  • 50 grams(3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon) water
  • 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 280 grams(2 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 1¼ teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt (I use sea salt, as it absorbs quickly into your dough)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 230 grams( 1½ cups) good quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips. I use Callebaut chips from Bulk Barn Canada.
Instructions
  1. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment beat the butter, superfine sugar and brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy (about 5 minutes)
  2. Beat in the eggs, the water and vanilla on medium until thoroughly combined.
  3. In a separate bowl whisk the flour, salt, baking soda and chocolate chips until well combined.
  4. Add the flour- chocolate chip mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and mix until the flour and chocolate are TOTALLY incorporated. You want each cookie to have good balance of the chips.
  5. Scrape the dough into an air tight container and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 3 to 4 hours, or even better overnight before baking. You can store the unbaked dough in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
  6. Baking oven temperature is 350F. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Line baking sheets with paper,
  7. These cookies bake very thin. I suggest you do as professional bakers and bake a test cookie first to check your baking times accurately.
  8. Using either 2 teaspoons or a 1⅝ dia. ice cream disher drop the dough on to the baking sheet spacing them a good 2 inches apart. These little darlings really spread..Bake for 16 to 18 minutes rotating the baking sheet midway the the baking time, until the cookies are deep golden brown all the way through.
  9. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet, then transfer them to the rack and let cool completely tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days
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DOUBLE DOUBLE GINGER CRACKLE COOKIES

Posted on June 7, 2024 by admin

Summers at Emma Lake. It was filled with halcyon days of swimming, building rafts and dreaming the hours away. We lived completely off the grid. We chopped wood , pumped water and lit oil lamps to chase away the dark. Meals were cooked on a wood burning stove and the finest cookies in the world were baked in its oven.

I baked in the evening when the oven was the right temperature for cottage cookies. Cottage cookie ingredients do not require refrigeration, and only two mixing bowls, a whisk, and a baking sheet. The cookies are quick to make; whisk oil, sugar, egg and molasses together, stir in the flour mixture, roll the cookie dough in a little sugar and pop in the oven.

The original recipe, found in an old copy of Canadian Living magazine, was called Ginger Crackle cookies. Over time this unprepossessing cookie evolved into an addictive, ginger loaded morsel of perfection. A cookie crisp and crackling on the edges, tender, chewy in the middle. A cookie with a generous amount of ginger, a flattering amount of cinnamon and cloves, a pinch of cayenne pepper and several grinds of black peppercorns. You can never eat just one!

While I baked cookies, Monopoly, Snakes and Ladders and card games were the evenings entertainment. I still have the deck of cards used at the cottage. When I open the box I swear I can smell the aroma of ginger cookies and wood smoke.

DOUBLE DOUBLE GINGER CRACKLE COOKIES
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: baking
Cuisine: Canadian
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: 30 to 36
This most unusual cookie recipe has fabulous flavour. I has crispy nibbling edges and tender chewy centers. The ginger is enhanced with cinnamon, cloves, black pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Absolutely addictive.
Ingredients
  • ⅔ cups (128 grams) vegetable oil
  • 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup (80 grams) fancy molasses
  • 1¾ cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 heaping tb ground ginger (more is always better)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground cloves
  • 5 grinds black pepper
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar to finish the cookies
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl whisk oil with the sugar. The cup you used to measure the oil - use it to measure the molasses without rinsing it out.. (easier to clean)
  2. Whisk in the egg.
  3. Add the molasses and whisk well.
  4. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  5. Using a strong wooden spoon stir the flour mixture into the molasses mixture. The dough is very slack but will thicken slightly a you mix.
  6. In good size shallow bowl add a ¼ cup of sugar.
  7. You can use the smallest size ice cream scoop (my definite preference) or shape tablespoonfuls of dough into balls(they won't be perfect) and roll in sugar to coat.
  8. Because the dough is so slack the cookies will spread into perfectly shaped round.
  9. Place the cookies two inches apart on parchment paper baking sheets. THE COOKIES REALLY SPREAD. Bake in 375F over for about 12 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheet half way through baking.
  10. Let the cookies rest on the sheet until cool.
  11. This makes 36 cookies (if using the tablespoon) . Per cookie 95 calories
  12. I use the smallest size ice cream scoop and get 30 slightly large cookies = around 100 calories
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CHICKEN TAGINE WITH SWEET POTATOES AND PRUNES

Posted on April 25, 2024 by admin

This gallery contains 2 photos.

  This rather exotic sounding recipe  – a tangine is the name of food and of the container it is baked in – is a the kind of slow cooked dish that is so perfect for entertaining.   You don’t need … Continue reading →

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ALMOST OREO COOKIES . . . CHOCOLATE CREME SANDWICHES

Posted on March 8, 2024 by admin

This is not the Oreo cookie of your childhood. It’s a little less crisp, a whisper less sweet.  The squishy filling is a sophisticated, buttery vanilla flavoured layer of wonderfulness.  The cookie is rich and dark and seductive.

CHOCOLATE CREME SANDWICH is an adult cookie. One you will reach for when involved in a long and difficult project; an intellectual cookie for the book-worm. A cookie that will sustain you as you wade knee deep in snow through War and Peace; when you think you will never get to the end of Atlas Shrugged, or a reward for actually finishing reading Ulysses.

The dough is pure joy to make. It’s easy, forgiving and simple to roll out, and holds its shape if you wish to use a scalloped cutter. Make this cookie with the very best cocoa you can find. For a darker cookie use a combination of black cocoa and Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Don’t use all black cocoa as it lacks the rich chocolate flavour your cookie requires.

Because of the butter filling this ephemeral cookie, once baked and filled, is best served that day.  They can be wrapped well and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

The filling can be made ahead and kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to three days.  The dough can also be cut into rounds, wrapped airtight and frozen.  There’s no need to defrost before baking. This allows you to bake and fill half the cookies, then bake and fill the rest of the cookies two days later.    Four glorious days to enjoy chocolate creme sandwiches!

 

ALMOST OREO COOKIES . . . CHOCOLATE CREME SANDWICHES
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: 22
Darkly decadent, ravishingly addictive, absolutely binge worthy and better than Oreo cookies.
Ingredients
  • 340 grams (2½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 43 grams (1/2 cup) sifted unsweetened cocoa powder.. For a darker cookies remove one to two tablespoons of cocoa powder and replace it with the same amount of black cocoa powder
  • 183 grams (1 stick plus 5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature. The butter should be soft enough to indent when pressed with your fingertip.
  • 134 grams (2/3 cup) sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 30 grams (1) egg white at room temperature
  • FOR THE FILLING
  • 85 grams (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature. Be sure the butter is soft. It should indent when pressed with your fingertip.
  • 150 grams (1¼ cups) sifted icing sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 generous teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • If you want an extra thick layer of filling double the recipe for the filling
Instructions
  1. Heat your oven to 350F.
  2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a 2 inch diameter cookie cutter (or the cutter of your choice) and a metal spatula at hand.
  3. Whisk your flour and cocoa powder together and set aside.
  4. Using your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter for for a minute or so then add the sugar and salt. On medium speed mix until smooth and light.
  5. Add the egg white(which will curdle the mixture at first) and mix for 2 or 3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed, until the egg white is fully incorporated.
  6. Mix in the vanilla.
  7. With the machine off add the flour and cocoa all at once and pulse gently until the risk of flying flour has passed.
  8. Turn the mixture to medium and mix until the dough holds together and forms clumps when pinched. It should come together as a ball. Don't over mix.
  9. Dump the dough out onto a work surface and knead until it comes together.
  10. Divide the dough in half and pat and flatten into disks.
  11. Work with one piece of dough at a time. Roll the dough between two pieces of parchment paper to a thickness of ⅛ inch.
  12. Slide the dough, STILL BETWEEN THE PAPER, onto a baking sheet . You can stack the slabs of cookie dough. Freeze for at least 1 hour.
  13. or ... The rolled-out dough can be frozen, wrapped airtight , for up to two months.
  14. or ... The dough can also be cut into cookie rounds, wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months; no need to defrost before baking.
  15. Now let's bake the cookies! Working with one sheet of cookie dough at a time, peel away both pieces of parchment paper and place the the dough back on one piece of paper.
  16. Cut the dough and place the rounds of the baking sheets, leaving an inch between them. You may new the metal spatula to careful lift the cookies off the parchment paper.
  17. Gather together the scraps FROM BOTH PIECES of dough, re-roll them between parchment paper and freeze until firm.
  18. Bake the cookies, in the center of your oven, one sheet at a time for 12 to 14 minutes rotating the pans from front to back after 7 minutes. Cookies should feel firm to the touch when done.
  19. Transfer to racks and allow the cookies to rest for at least 5 minutes before taking them onto the racks to cool to room temperature
  20. This recipe makes 22 sandwiches (44 individual cookies) Any tiny bits of cookies scraps left over can be baked along with the cookies for the cook to nibble on.
  21. TO MAKE THE FILLING
  22. In the stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth and add the salt and confectioners' sugar. Beat until smooth and add the vanilla. Mix until combined - about 4 minutes.The filling will look like creamed cheese.
  23. TO FINISH THE COOKIES
  24. Count your cookies for an even total.
  25. Take half that total and turn the cookies bottom side up. Put a spoonful of filling on the bottom half of the cookies.
  26. Top with the remaining cookies, bottom side down, and jiggle the cookies, twisting them in opposite directions, to spread the filling evenly.
  27. The cookies can be eaten immediately, although the filling will be soft and squish out at first bite.
  28. For neater cookies (with filling that will still squish, but less so) give the filling a couple of hours to set and firm a little, or chill the cookies for 1 hour.
  29. Once baked and filled, the cookies are best served that day, but they can be wrapped well and refrigerated for up to 2 days. The cookies are good cold or at room temperature.
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This recipe adapted from Dorie’s Cookies

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OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Posted on February 28, 2024 by admin

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There are some who say the ultimate sweet treat is cookies and milk.  Make the cookie crispy rich with the perfect amount of old fashioned oatmeal,  bittersweet and milk chocolate chips and you have the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that dreams are made of.  Bake with the best chocolate chips you can find or be creative and  chop a bar of good chocolate into coarse chunks.

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Print
: cookie
Cuisine: baking
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: 28
Gorgeous, high addictive cookie with a crisp texture, overtones of caramel and a strong presence of chocolate. Indulge it as a breakfast cookie.
Ingredients
  • 120g (1 cup) unbleached all purpose flour
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp cinnamon powder
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • 115g (1/2 cup ) unsalted butter room temperature (the butter indents when pressed with your finger) Soft butter is important.
  • 100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
  • 109g (1/2 cup) packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg (60g) at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 123g (1⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp) rolled oats (slow cooking old fashioned type)
  • 85g (1/2 cup) bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks
  • 85g (1/2 cups) milk chocolate chips or chunks
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350F at least 15 minutes before you start mixing your dough
  2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper
  3. Combine the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder,cinnamon and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  4. Using stand mixture with paddle attachment beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. This may take 5 minutes or more. This is a crucial step to give you light and crisp cookies.
  5. Add your sugars and beat well.
  6. Add the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla.
  7. Gradually add dry ingredients in 2-3 additions with the mixer on low speed. Mix just until combined.
  8. Combine the oats and chocolate and add them to the dough with mixer on low speed, mixing just until well distributed.
  9. Using your smallest size (cookie, ice cream) scoop or a fat tablespoon size arrange the dough on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Do not press the dough flat. This recipe makes 28 cookies.
  10. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes . One sheet at a time turning the sheet half way through the baking. The edges of the cookie should be golden brown.
  11. Cool the cookies on the sheet long enough for them to retain their shape
  12. This recipe can be doubled if you have a heavy duty stand mixer
  13. (chef note - raisins (75g) can be used in place of ½ cup of chocolate
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TOMATO BASIL SOUP …ROXY’S BISTRO’S SIGNATURE SOUP

Posted on February 23, 2024 by admin

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Of all the soups we made at ROXY’S BISTRO in Regina, tomato basil soup was our favourite.    This  soup tastes like the glorious days of summer.  The tomatoes  enhanced with basil and a whisper of oregano.    The very … Continue reading →

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GROWN-UP GINGERSNAPS

Posted on January 17, 2024 by admin

When you are in the midst of an Arctic Vortex, you stay home and bake. You admire the brittle blue skies etched with sugar sparkling snow covered mountains, but from your kitchen window.

This cold weather cookie comes together quickly and quietly, no stand mixer required. It is a grown-up ginger cookie warm with spices, and rich with memories of tall glasses of milk. The secret that take it above and beyond other cookies is the generous spoonfuls of powdered ginger, plus freshly grated ginger, orange zest, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. The spices are bloomed in melted butter and sugar, and whisked until a simmer, then set aside to cool. Add a beaten egg, the flour mixture, and pop the dough into your refrigerator for a two hour nap.

These grown-up ginger cookies bake wafer thin, and snap when you break one in half to nibble with coffee, a glass of wine, or child-like- dip into a cold, glass of milk. Then the moment, when your home is filled with the heady fragrance of baking, you close your eyes and remind yourself of the Rubaiyat and Omar Khayyam: BE HAPPY FOR THIS MOMENT. THIS MOMENT IS YOUR LIFE.

GROWN-UP GINGERSNAPS
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: cooking
Cuisine: Swedish
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: 24-30
An easy to make recipe with generous amounts of ground ginger. A cookie that goes well with wine as coffee.
Ingredients
  • 217 grams (1⅔ cups) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon. baking soda (be sure baking soda is fresh, not baking soda that has been stored in the fridge
  • 113 grams ( 8 tablespoons.) unsalted butter
  • 100 grams (1/2 cup packed) light brown sugar
  • 78 grams(6 tablespoons) white sugar
  • 85 grams (1/4 cup) light corn syrup
  • 2½ tablespoons ground ginger (yes, 2½ tbs)
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon finely grated orange zest
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
  • A pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling. You can also use rock sugar. It is white as opposed to the brown Turbinado sugar. If you don't have those sugars in your pantry use regular white sugar.
Instructions
  1. If you do not have a digital scale and the smallest size ice cream scoop this could be the time to add them to your baking arsenal. Baking is a precise science and using scales can make a difference in the outcome of your baked goods. As well as using the correct amounts of ingredients, measuring something sticky, like corn syrup is less messy. Using an ice cream scoop makes portioning your dough much easier, especially when dealing with sticky dough like this recipe.
  2. Heat oven to 350F at least 30 minutes BEFORE you put the cookies in. Bake cookies on the center rack one sheet at a time.
  3. In a large bowl whisk together flour and baking soda and set aside.
  4. In a medium sauce pan combine the butter, both sugars, the corn syrup, both gingers, the cinnamon, orange zest, salt, cloves, black pepper and cayenne. As the butter melts stir with a wood spoon or whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and turn out into a medium or large bowl to allow the mixture to cool quickly.
  5. Stir the egg into the cooled mixture until well combines and smooth.
  6. Add the dry ingredients and stir until no dry flour remains. The mixture will look very slack but will firm up.
  7. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days well covered with plastic wrap.
  8. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Using the ice cream scoop measure out the dough. Place cookies 2-3 inches apart. These cookies really spread
  9. Or - Working with a tablespoon of dough at a time, use dampened hands to roll into balls.
  10. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the balls and use the bottom of a dry measuring cup to flatten each cookie to about ¼ inch thick.
  11. Remove the plastic and generously sprinkle each cookie with the turbinado or rock sugar..
  12. Bake until richly browned, 14 to 16 minutes, turning the sheet around half way through the baking. Depending on your oven cookies taken out at 14 minutes gives you a chewy cookie while those baked to 15-16 minutes you have a true gingersnap.
  13. Cool the cookies ON THE BAKING SHEET for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
  14. The cookies keep for up to a week in an airtight container - if they last that long.
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A CHRISTMAS COOKIE … WHITE CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD

Posted on November 13, 2023 by admin
This is a rich, sophisticated Christmas cookie that captures the essence of the season and then lavishes it with white chocolate.   A cookie that asks you to buy the best white chocolate you can find and chop it into chunks.  White chocolate chips just wont do.
A CHRISTMAS COOKIE ... WHITE CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD
Print
: cookie
Cuisine: baking
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: 30
An easy to make drop cook rich with white chocolate and flavored with gingerbread spices
Ingredients
  • 150g (2/3 cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 200g (1 cup) dark brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 300g (2¼ cups) all purpose-flour
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • 300g (10½ oz) good quality white chocolate, chopped into chunks
Instructions
  1. Using your stand mixer with the paddle beat the soft butter until lightly whipped
  2. Add the sugar to the butter and beat until light and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add the eggs one at a time beating well each time.
  4. In a separate large bowl whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  5. Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar and continue mixing until well combined.
  6. Add the chocolate chunks and mix just until combined.
  7. Turn out the mixture into a bowl large enough to contain the dough and give you room to scoop out the dough for cookies. Cover the dough tightly with cling film and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
  8. Preheat the oven to 175C (350F) and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
  9. Use your smallest size ice cream scoop to portion out the dough and space them 5 cm (2 in) apart. The recipe makes 24 to 30 cookies.
  10. Using your finger tips press each cookie lightly down
  11. Bake your cookies one tray at a time in the center of your oven for 16 minutes.
  12. Allow them to cool on the baking tray.
  13. The cookies will keep fresh for 2-3 days in tightly closed container or freeze for one month.
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The recipe calls for butter at room temperature.   This means when you press the butter with your finger tip it indents easily.  To soften butter cut it into small squares and layer between two pieces of saran wrap.  Press down on the butter with your palm several times  This will soften the butter.

This recipe was adapted from THE BOOK OF GINGERBREAD by Helen Garcia

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HAZELNUT WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Posted on September 10, 2023 by admin
. This is not a breakfast type cookie. Or an after school snack cookie. This is pure and wonderful indulgence. A cookie to be served on vintage Limoges plates when an old friend joins you for afternoon tea. This is a cookie one could serve as a dinner party dessert; along with tiny scoops of vanilla ice cream garnished with more chopped nuts and chocolate. It fulfills you longing for something rich and wonderful and completely unexpected.
HAZELNUT WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES
Print
: cookie
Cuisine: baking
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: 20-30
A delicate cookie rich with an abundance of nuts and chocolate. You can use either hazelnuts or walnuts. Cookies keep well at room temperature for six days.
Ingredients
  • 112 grams (3/4 cup) hazelnuts or walnuts
  • 113 grams (1/2 cup) butter at room temperature. The butter should be soft enough to easily show your pressed fingerprint.
  • 92.5 grams (1/2 cup) lightly packed light brown sugar
  • 67 grams (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg (60 grams)
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla
  • ½ tsp. fine sea salt
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 120 grams(1 cup) all-purpose flour
  • 120 grams3/4 cup ) good quality white chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 300F (150c). Place the hazelnuts on an unlined baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until toasted and brown. Roll the hazelnuts in a tea towel and briskly rub off as much of the skin as possible. If you are using walnuts simply set aside and cool them to room temperature. Nuts burn easily so watch them carefully.
  2. Increase the oven to 350F (185c) and let the oven come to temperature for at least 20-30 minutes before putting cookies in the oven.
  3. Line the same baking sheet with parchment paper.
  4. Coarsely chop the nuts
  5. In medium size bowl whisk the flour, salt, baking power and baking soda until combined. Set aside.
  6. In your stand mixer using t he paddle blade cream the butter on medium speed until light (about 3 minutes)
  7. Add the white and brown sugar and cream until well mixed.
  8. Ad the egg and vanilla and continue to mix until light and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes) scraping down the sides and the bottom of the bowl as needed.
  9. Add the flour mixture, the nuts and the white chocolate and mix on LOW speed for barely a minute. Do not be concerned if parts of the dough look unmixed.
  10. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and using a spatula GENTLY finish mixing the dough. Use a folding motion rather than stirring the cookie dough.
  11. Using your smallest sized ice cream scoop (or two teaspoons) form the dough into 1 inch balls the equivalent of about 2 tablespoons.
  12. Arrange on the baking sheet a generous 2 inches apart.. Be aware. These cookies do spread.
  13. Bake one sheet at a time, in the center of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes turning the sheet after 10 minutes until the cookies are golden brown. Be careful not to over-back them.
  14. Remove from the oven and place the sheet of cookies on the cooling rack for 3-4 minutes.
  15. then carefully remove the cookies from to the sheet to finish cooling to room temperature.
  16. Serve immediately or will keep up to 6 days in an air tight container at room temperature.
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THE MOST GLORIOUS OF GINGER COOKIES

Posted on July 21, 2023 by admin

This is no ordinary ginger cookie.  It delivers an extraordinary burst of ginger flavour and then offers more.   It has the crisp ginger snap that goes beautifully with cold milk. There’s a hit of molasses that reminds you of  gingerbread eaten fresh out of the oven on a winter day.  Notes of cinnamon and cloves deepen the flavour.  And then back notes whisper of black pepper.  This ginger cookie has caught the memories of spicy pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, and a whisper of  Christmas mulled wine.
A lovely part of this outstanding ginger cookie is the ease of preparing it.  Start with a mixing bowl, a whisk  and a wooden spoon (no mixer required).  Melted butter, sugar molasses and eggs are whisked together.  Then the dry ingredients are stirred until blended.  The smallest of ice cream scoops shapes the dough that you roll in sugar and gently place on the baking tray.
Freshly baked cookies are always a delight, but this is one ginger cookie that tastes even better the next day.  The spicy flavour mellows and becomes even richer.  They keep beautifully for a week  or you can freeze them for up to three months

THE MOST GLORIOUS OF GINGER COOKIES
Print
: cookie
Cuisine: baking
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: 32 cookies
A spicy ginger cookie that is chewy, tender and crisp. It comes together quickly. Just 10 minutes of prep time.
Ingredients
  • 175 g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 250 g (1¼ cups) packed demerara or dark brown sugar
  • 65 g (1/4 cup) fancy molasses
  • 1 large egg and one egg yolk beaten at room temperature
  • 335 g (2¼ cups) all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 18 g (2 tbs) ground ginger
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground cloves
  • ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • sugar, for rolling the cookies
Instructions
  1. If possible use digital scales for your measurements of the ingredients. This insures your accuracy in measuring and makes clean-up easier.
  2. For the very best results use the ingredients listed. Avoid substitutions if possible.
  3. Have your cookie sheets ready and as soon as you have the dough mixed fill the first sheet and pop it in the oven. Fill the second sheet and have it ready to put in the oven when you take the first sheet out. This dough does not take kindly to sitting too long before baking..
  4. Preheat the oven to 325F (160C) and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
  5. Whisk together the melted butter, demerara (or brown) sugar, molasses, egg and egg yolk in a large mixing bowl.
  6. In a separate bowl stir the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and pepper together.
  7. Add the flour mixture all at once to the butter mixture with a wooden spoon and stir until blended. The dough will seem very slack at first but it sets up very quickly.
  8. This is a soft dough and a small ice cream scoop is a superior way to shape your dough into balls. If you are an avid cookie maker an ice cream scoop is a good investment. Lacking this handy device you can use 2 teaspoons to shape the dough. Roll each cookie gently in granulated sugar to coat and place on the prepared baking trays. Set the balls 1½ inches apart.. DO NOT PRESS THE COOKIES DOWN. This recipe makes 32 cookies. When baked the cookies measure about 3 inches across.
  9. Bake for 20 minutes minutes for soft, chewy cookies, 25 minutes for crisper cookies. The edge should brown around the edges. The cookies will puff up while baking and then collapse as they cool, developing a lovely crackled surface.
  10. LET THE COOKIES COOL ON THE TRAY sitting on a wire rack.
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These ginger cookies are made glorious with their deep, intense ginger flavour.  The recipe calls for two tablespoons of ginger.  You can use less but I suggest you put your “brave” on follow this recipe.  All of it.    The ginger flavour is accompanied with cinnamon, cloves and freshly ground black pepper.  For a tender, chewy cookie bake for twenty minutes.  A crisper, crunchy cookies takes five minutes more.

 

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