If you love ginger then these cookies are for you. Along with chocolate and molasses these cookies will have you ready for holiday baking season.
It’s about that time again, time to ramp up for the holiday baking season! With it comes the Cookies for Kid’s Cancer campaign that I participate in every year. This year we selected recipes from Dorie’s Cookies which is being released this October. For every blog post, OXO will donate $100 to Cookies for Kid’s Cancer so I made sure I “baked a difference” and got my post up and running!
The recipe I chose was a double-ginger molasses cookie which is baked in a muffin pan instead of free-form on a cookie sheet. Granted, you’re more than welcome to bake them on a cookie sheet but it was a fun change to bake cookies in a muffin pan, especially when I had OXO’s Non-Stick Pro 12 Cup Muffin Pan to play with, which has a unique micro-textured pattern to ensure even baking. Step aside, former muffin pans.
I also got to bust out my new OXO On Illuminating Digital Hand Mixer which has a handy light to illuminate dark bowls and packs up all compact when you’re finished. And of course no baking adventure is complete in my kitchen without my trusty medium cookie scoop for easy dough scooping – seriously I don’t think I ever bake cookies without it anymore. And yes I even used it when baking this recipe in the muffin pan, because that way each cookie is of uniform size.
But I digress, these double-ginger molasses cookies not only have ground ginger in the dough, but also crystallized ginger mixed in – hence the double ginger. And in case you wanna add a third ginger, there’s an optional chocolate-ginger ganache you can make to go on top! Along with the ginger, the flavors of chocolate and molasses these cookies have me finally warming up to the idea of fall and winter baking.
Wanna learn more about this campaign? Visit https://www.oxo.com/cookies-for-kids-cancer or cookiesforkidscancer.org for more information.
One year ago: Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies
Two years ago: Caramelized White Chocolate Spritz Cookies
Four years ago: Speculoos S’mores Cheesecake Bars
Five years ago: Baked Falafels
DOUBLE-GINGER MOLASSES COOKIES
Makes about 36 cookies
Ingredients:
COOKIES
2-1/4 cups (306 g) all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1-2 tsp instant espresso, to taste (optional)
1-1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1-1/2 sticks (12 Tbsp; 6 oz; 170 g) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
1/3 cup (67 g) sugar
1/3 cup (67 g) packed light brown sugar
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1/2 cup (120 ml) unsulfured molasses
1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup (55 g) chopped crystallized ginger (or 2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger mixed with 2 tsp sugar)
7 oz. (200 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped chip-size
Sugar, for rolling
GINGER-CHOCOLATE GANACHE (optional)
2/3 cup heavy cream
Four 1/4-inch-thick slices of fresh ginger
6 oz. finely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
Directions:
- Whisk the flour, cocoa, espresso (if using), spices, baking soda and salt together.
- Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-low speed for about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl with a medium silicone spatula as needed, until fully blended. Add the yolk and beat for 1 minute, then add the molasses and vanilla, beating until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients all at once and pulse the mixer until the risk of flying flour passes. Working on low speed, mix the dough until the flour is almost but not completely incorporated. Add the crystallized ginger and chocolate and mix until the dry ingredients disappear into the dough and the ginger and chocolate are evenly distributed, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it and wrap it in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours*.
- Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray regular muffin tins or, if making free-form cookies, line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Spoon some sugar into a wide shallow bowl.
- For each cookie, mold a medium cookie scoop or spoonful of dough into a ball between your palms, then turn it in the sugar to coat and put in a muffin cup or on a baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between each ball of dough. If using tins, use a jar or glass to flatten each ball until it almost reaches the sides of the cup. If it’s free- form, press to flatten to about 1/2-inch thick.
- Bake the cookies for about 13 minutes, rotating the tins or sheets top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes. The cookies should be lightly set around the edges and softer in the center. Transfer the tins or sheets to racks and let the cookies rest for 15 minutes before removing from pan and placing them on racks to cool completely.
- To make a ganache, bring heavy cream and ginger to a boil in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and allow the cream to infuse for 20 minutes. Return the cream to the boil, then remove the ginger and pour half of the cream over the finely chopped chocolate. Wait for 30 seconds, stir gently and then stir in the remainder of the cream. Dip the top or one side of each cookie in the chocolate and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill for 20 minutes to set the chocolate. Bring the cookies to room temperature before serving.
*You can refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days. You can also scoop out the dough, shape into balls and freeze the balls on baking sheets; when they’re firm, pack them airtight and keep frozen for up to 2 months. Remove the dough from the freezer and let the balls sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes, then roll in sugar and bake. The baked cookies can be kept in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 4 days. They’ll get a little drier and a little less chewy, but that will make them even better for dunking.
Source: Recipe from Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan
