18 December 2010

Christmas baking: crispy ginger cookies!


I love these incredibly crispy ginger spice cookies...they are so fun to nibble on and are perfect with a mug of tea on a cold December afternoon.  I first made these back in 2006, when they were published in the December issue of Bon Appetit, and they were such a hit with family and friends that I planned on making them a recurring part of my Christmas baking.

Unfortunately for me, by the time Christmas rolled around the following year, I had completely forgotten the name of the recipe and where exactly I had seen it!  But this year, after some digging around, I finally found the right recipe and am thrilled to share it with you.  To get thin, crunchy cookies, you have to roll the dough out to a mere 1/8-inch, which can be tricky when working with the soft butter dough, but I've discovered that rolling it out between plastic wrap and then peeling the wrap off the cut cookies makes the process a breeze.

They are highly addictive...bet you can't eat just one!



Ginger Crisp Cookies
From Bon Appetit, December 2006
Makes 64 cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses

Whisk the flour, spices, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy, then beat in the molasses.  Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

Divide the dough into four portions and wrap in plastic wrap, flattening to 1/4-inch thick discs.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

Let dough rest at room temperature a few minutes before rolling out to 1/8-inch thickness between 2 sheets of plastic wrap (this helps prevent the dough from breaking and sticking to the rolling pin).  Remove the top layer of plastic wrap and cut out cookies with shaped cutters.

Transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets.  To easily transfer the cookies, lift plastic wrap off of the counter and invert one cookie at a time over your free hand, then peel the plastic wrap off the bottom of the cookie.

Bake cookies for 12 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 F.  Let cookies rest 2 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack.  Let cookies cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You know I've never make ginger cookies? Confession made, those look absolutely crispy and delicious. I'm saving your recipe to try it soon! :)

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