Test Recipe: Triple Ginger Cookies

I came across this recipe in Bon Appétit (December 2009) as I was flipping through during the hurried holiday season.

The thought of spicy ginger cookies with a hot cup of coffee was so warm and comforting, I momentarily forgot the temperature was only in the teens.

Last weekend, I set about to actually try this recipe. The recipe listed a yield of 40 cookies, which was entirely too many for, not only a first-go at a recipe, but also for two people. So I halved it.

I began by creaming the butter.

Then added the brown sugars...

...and creamed for about three minutes.

Then, the egg, molasses and spices were added.

Finally, the flour mixture was incorporated in two additions.

I scooped the dough with a mini-ice cream scoop (no.50 pastry scoop).

I decide to roll half of the cookies in the recommended granulated sugar...

...and the other half in a coarser turbinado sugar.

Onto the sheet pans and into the oven!

After about 12 minutes, they were ready to come out of the oven. I allowed them to cool on the pans for about five minutes and then transferred them to a cooling rack.

Finally, it was time to taste them.

They were good, but not amazing. They tasted much more like a molasses cookie than I had expected. And I do love molasses cookies, but these were supposed to be ginger cookies. Or as Mike named them “Ginger Three Ways” cookies.

Both versions of the rolling sugar, granulated and turbinado, tasted fine. I preferred the coarser texture of the turbinado sugar, but it is completely up to the preference of the baker.

Due to the fact that these tasted so much more like a molasses cookie than a ginger cookie, it will not find a permanent spot in my recipe binder.

One test recipe down. Many more to go.

Triple Ginger Cookies

adapted from Bon Appétit (December 2009)

yields about 40 cookies

Ingredients

2 ½ cups AP flour

1/3 cup minced crystallized ginger

2 teaspoons baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup light brown sugar

½ cup dark brown sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

¼ cup light (mild-flavored) molasses

1 ½ teaspoons finely grated fresh peeled ginger

1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/3 cup sugar (granulated or turbinado), for rolling

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line 2 baking sheets with SilPats or parchment paper.

Whisk flour, crystallized ginger, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.

Using electric mixer, beat butter until creamy and light, about 2 minutes.

Gradually beat in both brown sugars. Beat on medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes.

Add egg, molasses, fresh ginger, ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Beat to blend.

Add flour mixture in 2 additions, beating on low speed just to blend between additions.

Place 1/3 cup sugar in small bowl. Measure 1 tablespoon dough. Roll into ball between palms of hands, then roll in sugar in bowl to coat; place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, spacing cookies 1 ½ to 2 inches apart.

Bake cookies until surfaces crack and cookies are firm around edges but still slightly soft in center, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Cool on sheet tray about 5 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely.