Olivia Piepmeier

Ginger Cookies

Tuesday, January 3, 2023
Category: dessert
A watercolor illustration of a brown cookie with some noticible crackles on top. It's surrounded by random brushstrokes of purples, light blue, and shimmery gold. Directly above the cookie *HER* is written in gold.

inspired by Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cups (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 270 grams all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • A scant 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
  • A scant 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • A scant 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon five spice (this can be left out and the above spices can be less scant, but I recommend keeping some around because it’s delightful!)
  • 1 teaspoon diamond crystal salt
  • 1/8 cup sugar (for rolling)

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry stuff.
  2. Using a separate mixing bowl (a stand mixer with paddle attachment or a hand mixer will help here) cream softened butter and sugars on medium-high until light and fluffy and a pale yellow color, scraping the sides as needed. This may take 2 minutes or so?
  3. Add the egg and mix on medium-low until combined.
  4. Add the molasses and mix on medium-low speed for a minute or so. This will look a little curdled, don’t worry.
  5. Gradually add in the dry ingredients and beat until uniform.
  6. Cover the mixing bowl well (or put it in a separate container if your fridge doesn’t have enough space) and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
  7. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  8. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper/silpat.
  9. Use a 1 tsp cookie scoop (#100 for restaurant size) and scoop out the dough and roll each ball in your hand for a few seconds to make it uniform.
  10. Put the 1/8 cup sugar in a wide bowl or plate and roll each ball in it enough to coat. A few empty spots on the cookies here and there are fine.
  11. Place dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, leaving an inch to 1.5 inches apart.
  12. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until the cookies begin to slightly crack on top.
  13. While the first batch is baking, you can continue to roll out and coat the rest. Put them in the fridge until you’re ready to bake them - being cold really makes a difference to that chewy texture.
  14. When you remove them from the oven, let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes.
  15. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool while you bake the rest. 


Thoughts

These are the best. I can’t stop eating them. The recipe above is technically half of the original and this is for my own safety. They are spicy and tender and, particularly when you use a teaspoon scoop and roll the dough as stated, they actually look good! The aesthetics of cooking/baking are not really my thing, so these thrill me even more because they’re presentable.