Chewy Ginger Snaps

Okay, as promised here is the "World's Best Chewy Ginger Snap" (at least according to the Ginger People). I would have to agree though! These cookies are spicy, sweet, and a bit salty. This thin cookie is the perfect combination of a crunchy edge with a soft center. Plus, it is very easy to make.

Here are the ingredients for the World's Best Chewy Ginger Snaps by the Ginger People (makes about 3 dozen cookies):
-3/4 cup butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
-1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
-1/4 cup dark molasses
-1 egg
-2 teaspoons baking soda
-2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
-1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
-1 teaspoon ground ginger
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-3.5 ounces crystallized ginger, chopped coarsely

To begin, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl combine butter, sugar, molasses, and egg with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Chop crystallized ginger and add to butter mixture. Mix to combine.
In a separate medium bowl, combine the rest of the dry ingredients. Sift or whisk ingredients together.
Combine the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Beat until combined.
At this point, I like to chill the dough for a bit, but you don't have to. Form 1-inch balls, and roll in granulated sugar to coat.
Placed on greased cookie sheet (I used parchment paper) about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Let cool on sheet for about a minute and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.Bring to a holiday party and enjoy all the praise for a simple, but delicious cookie.

Cookies Galore

Last year around this time, I became a human cookie factory for a weekend. I always think homemade gifts are the sweetest, plus it can be a way to save money during the most expensive month of the year. My coworkers always give each other gifts which I find to be really annoying (I am a total grinch), but since I like to bake I decided this could be both a nice gift and a fun activity. It ended up being a 4 day baking marathon. The first two days were dedicated to making dough and refrigerating it, and the final two was a non-stop bake-a-thon (literally 8 hours in the kitchen both days). By the end of it, I was completely exhausted and my feet were throbbing. I ended up making chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies with royal icing, chewy ginger snaps, snickerdoodles, peppernuts, Fleur de Sel toffee, and candied citrus peel (click on any of the links to get the recipes). In my opinion, people were not impressed enough - so this year I am not going waste my time going to that much work.

This year for my office gifts I order some tins of Russian tea from Kusmi Tea and I am planning to make peppernuts to go along with each tin. Tomorrow I am going to my boss' cocktail party so I decided to make the chewy ginger snap cookies. I know she likes them so well. I will post about them probably Wednesday. If you are looking for an alternative chocolate chip cookie - the chewy ginger snaps are so good and perfect for the holiday season.

Below are pictures taken from last year's cookie making. I got all the packaging from my favorite paper store called Paper Presentation.

Rolling out the peppernut dough.

Tiny peppernut slices.

Peppernuts baked.

Chewy ginger snaps cooling.

Sugar cookies with Royal icing and sprinkled sugar.

Chocolate chip cookies cooling.

Fleur de sel toffee.

Candied orange peel drying.

Making labels.

Packaging.