Thursday, January 10, 2008

Gingerbread Cookies


There are two main purposes of this post, though one of the intended ones is not to give you a delicious gingerbread cookie recipe. I'd love it if someone did like the recipe. And I promise this is the last Christmas cookie post!

1. To make you feel good about your cookie decorating skills. I used the "Scribblers" icing pen things and they were not so easy to work with but still.

2. To give you a very molasses-y gingerbread recipe to compare against other gingerbread recipes before deciding whether it's one you want to make or not. If it has as much molasses as this one and you're not a molasses fan, then you'll know to look elsewhere.


I went to an old Betty Crocker cookbook thinking that I might find the perfect gingerbread recipe but no. I tried to cut the molasses flavour by dipping the top part of the cookie in white chocolate. It definitely helped but wasn't quite enough. For the past couple of years I've given out gingerbread cookies as part of the cookie package, but this will definitely be the last year. Gingerbread is one of those unloved cookies but I vow to find a delicious recipe! I know it's out there.

I love the soft chewy ginger molasses cookies (especially the Starbucks ones). I love storebought gingersnaps. But I just need to find good ginger cookie recipes to make at home. I'd like to find one good soft chewy ginger cookie (this one at Baking Bites being a possible contender) and a nice crisp but kind of mild cookie that's gingerbread-meets-sugar-cookie.


Since I don't think that this gingerbread recipe is awesome (but I think you molasses lovers will!), here are some links to delicious treats I've seen at other blogs recently and want to make!
-Cinnamon Apple Scones at Bake or Break
-Peppermint Cookies n' Cream Brownies at Baking Bites
-Lemony Meyer Lemon Curd at Figs with Bri
-Gooey Caramel Bars at Taste and Tell
-Half Whole Wheat Baked Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts at Gigi Cakes (originally from 101 Cookbooks)

Gingerbread Cookies
Adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook (1976)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice

Cream butter and sugar. Blend in molasses, water, flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Cover; chill 2 to 3 hours.

Heat oven to 375F. Roll dough 1/4 inch thick on lightly floured surface. Cut with cookie cutter; place on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately remove from baking sheet. Cool.

17 comments:

Bev and Ollie "O" said...

I love gingerbread!I particularly like Mr Shocked Gingerman! hehe

My sister has recently started a blog (she is training to be a chef) She just made these yummy looking ginger slices, which is strange as I told her to visit your blog and now I'm going to give you her link to see the ginger crunches; http://maritt-chefette.blogspot.com/

Coffee and Vanilla said...

They look delicious :)
Margot

bakingblonde said...

YUM! I love ginger cookies. I made a really good one, they are drop cookies rolled in sugar. I bet you could chill and roll the dough out. It calls for the same amount of molasses as your recipe but makes a larger batch of cookies. I usually cut it in half and I still get a few dozen! So good!!

http://bakingblonde.blogspot.com/2007/11/sweet-and-spicy.html

Lyrically speaking said...

I love gingerbread cookies, i'll take them without the icing...I was never the type that's crazy about icing on my cake or cookies, now banana cream pie that's that different story :)

Plantains are easy to make, i'll have to post pics and give you the recipe someday. Thanks for the lovely visit to my blog. Have a good weekend. Love your blog which is inspiring

Anonymous said...

DI made some ginger cookies, which I know aren't exactly gingerbread cookies, but they are delicious nonetheless. They are from Dorie Greenspan's book and they have the perfect combo of molasses and butter and sugar.

Cakespy said...

Middle gingerbread man is my favorite too! I love, love, love molasses (my mom used to serve us molasses milk--comforting memories) so this might be a good one for me!

Deborah said...

I have actually never made gingerbread cookies. I've never been a big gingerbread fan, but maybe once I have kids we'll do it for the decorating!

Patricia Scarpin said...

These cookies are so adorable!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

ahh, gingerbread cookies - makes me miss Christmas-time even more!!

wow, if only my cookie-decorating skills were as developed as yours!! I'm inspired :0)

Anonymous said...

I love making gingerbread cookies. I think it's the decorating part I love, but I don't really like the taste of the cookie that much. Yours do look fantastically decorated!

P.S. Thanks for all the links, I found a couple of recipe there that I want to try.

Unknown said...

Fun cookies! Can't wait to see what you're doing next.

Amy said...

I too want a good soft chew gingerbread cookie (although I do love molasses!). Are these chewy or crispy? (You probably said and I'm just having a blind day...)

Anonymous said...

Oh, your gingerbread cookies, make me miss my mother's home!!
Ronell

Mallow said...

I'm a big fan of the recipe in Baking Illustrated (soft and chewy), especially with lemon icing. But I can't remember how much molasses they have in them... Great decorating, by the way!

Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen said...

The cookies look great! I too am on the search for a cook gingerbread cookie! We all love them around here. I made a vegan recipe earlier this week that was really way to thin and soft. I added a maple spice cream cheese icing to the center and made sandwiches out of them. I guess they pretty well received because they were gone so fast that I did not get a picture of them!

Tracy said...

I'm with you. I want to figure out a gingerbread cookie that's soft/chewy and not too strongly flavored. I'll be checking back to see if you found one (or I'll let you know).

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