Double Ginger Sugar Cookies
When I was a little girl, there was no food, (and I mean absolutely NO FOOD) that I loved more than sugar cookies.
Not french fries. Not chicken nuggets. Not chocolate. Not mac n cheese (which I never liked and still don’t actually…hush). Not even chocolate chip flavored cookies.
Sugar. Cookies.
To me they were just… the best thing ever.
If I’m being completely honest, there’s a part of me that still thinks they are. The ingredients of the typical sugar cookie are deceptively simple, yet the recipe itself is still easy to miss the mark on. A poorly made sugar cookie can come in the form of one that’s dry, too crisp, bland, too thick, too crumbly and dozens of other ways that things can go wrong. To date, the worst excuse for a sugar cookie I’ve ever had came from those abominable premade break and bake refrigerated cookie dough. The cookie is just barely palatable in a precious window of time of about….10 minutes after you take them out of the oven. Then, well…they cool/dry into pretty much inedible, bland sawdust.
Blegh.
Stay away. Far, far away from break and bake dough when making sugar cookies, I implore you. Scratch really is the only way to go. I will take a well made, from-scratch sugar cookie over say, creme brulee or a slice of cake any day. I will fight you for the last sugar cookie on a dessert tray. (You think I’m playing. Heh. Go ahead and try me, Buttercup.)
A well made sugar cookie is a perfect dessert, whether eaten all on its own or say, dipped in ice cream or whipping cream or chocolate (try it sometime if you haven’t). Once you know how to make a good one all on its own, it might be a good idea to start branching out and experimenting with creative twists to it…like this one.
I made these as a result of still having an excess of ginger from my homemade ginger tea I was making to ease my stomach issues. I took the leftover ginger from the syrup I made and candied it by rolling the pieces in white sugar and letting them cool until they’d crystallized. It’s a MUCH easier alternative to buying the premade stuff in the spice aisle and it’s quite easy to do. I was VERY curious to see what the spicy, slightly sweet ginger would add to the base of a sugar cookie.
Textures abound in this here recipe. The cookie itself is slightly crisp at the edges, with just the right amount of softness in the center so that biting into it, you get a slight crunch & a chew at the same time that’s intensified by the texture of the candied ginger. I won’t lie, the ginger REALLY does pack a punch; there is both crystallized and ground ginger in the dough and it’s definitely noticeable. The cookies are both sweet and spicy, but I enjoyed the contrast of flavors. Sometimes sugar cookies are stuck between either being too sweet or too bland; the doubled use of ginger here ensures that these are neither. They’re the perfect balance.
As usual, I’m linking this post to the Fiesta Friday for this week, #166, co-hosted this week by Mollie @ Frugalhausfrau and Ginger @ Ginger and Bread.
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Double Ginger Sugar Cookies
Recipe Courtesy of Food and Wine
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (3 ounces)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks ( 1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Coarse turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Directions
In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, crystallized ginger, ground ginger, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand held mixer) cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to evenly combine. Fold in the dry ingredients, about 1/3 a cup at a time. Mix just until dough comes together.
Shape dough into a long log and freeze log for about 1 1/2-2 hours, until very firm.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a bench scraper, cut off cookies about 1/8 inch thick and place them about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops with the coarse sugar if desired.
Bake the cookies in batches until golden and just barely set on top, 8-10 minutes. Switch the top and bottom racks midway through baking. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on pan before moving to wire racks to cool completely.
Note: No one oven is the same, & different baking sheets bake cookies differently. Keeping this in mind, I will ALWAYS test bake one cookie before baking entire sheets of the whole batch, just to get a good idea of how long they should be in the oven and if I need to adjust the way I’ve cut, rolled them out, etc. I highly recommend that you do the same.)
Love them too. My Granny made them all the time
Thanks Lisa!
Lovely!
Thanks Chef 😉
They look – and sound – amazing! I so get your point, lightly spiced ginger cookies are the best. I’ll be bookmarking this recipe …
Happy Fiesta Friday!
Ginger x
Awesome Ginger! Thanks, have a good weekend 😉
I love ginger and I love sugar cookies, so this is a match made in heaven for me – pinned for later!
Awesome Lily, thanks. I hope you enjoy the cookies 🙂
I will make this asap! Jess, they look amazing. I am with you on bad sugar cookies, but I’ve had so many bad ones that I have just tended to pretty much ignore all sugar cookies I see! These, though, are sugar cookies not to be ignored!
Happy FF!!
Mollie
Thanks Mollie; I think this will end your bad sugar cookie streak lol
I am SO looking forward to it!! 🙂
Lovely!! Keep it up! I will try and let you know. Meanwhile, please feel free to visit our blog:)
Thanks a lot 😉
They look and sound delicious Jess. I have to try them soon.
Yes, please do! They’re a real unique cookie. Thanks.
Oh man, sugar cookies are SO delish. I just love their simplicity. But I agree with you, you can easily go wrong. I’m personally not a big fan of Ginger but my boyfriend happens to love, love, love it, so I’m saving this recipe for a special occasion!
Would you be interested in sharing recipes with our community of passionate foodies? We’re always on the lookout for fun, new and delicious recipes like this one. You can find us right over here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OnlyGoodEats
Awesome. I hope your boyfriend likes the cookies. Thanks for sharing your FB page too, it looks like a nice community & place for cool recipes.
Thanks! I do too! Easter is the perfect time to try out new things.
No problem, hope to see you there!
Would it work with fresh ginger? Not half a cup of course, but just for th flavour.
Hmmm. I’m not sure. If I were testing fresh ginger in a dough, I would DEFINITELY grate it and reduce the amount. As fresh ginger is wet, it might also affect the overall texture of the cookies. If you don’t have crystallized ginger, you could also just increase the amount of ground ginger as an alternative, I’m sure it would work better than using raw ginger.