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Gingersnaps Recipe
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Gingersnap Cookies are a
highly addictive, sugar coated cookie that gets its chewy texture and spicy
flavor from adding brown sugar, molasses, and ground spices (cinnamon,
ginger and cloves) to the batter. The longer you bake Gingersnaps, the more
crispy they become, and while these are perfect with coffee, kids will enjoy
this American favorite with a tall glass of milk.
There are differences of opinion as to how 'spicy' a gingersnap
cookie should be, and for that very reason I will tell you how to adjust
the batter to suit your own individual taste. The first thing you must do is to make sure you periodically check your ground spices
to see if they are still fresh, as stale spices will definitely make your
gingersnaps 'flat' tasting. With that being said, one way to increase
spiciness is to add, along with the other spices, a 1/4 teaspoon of white or black ground
pepper or a 1/4 cup of finely diced crystallized ginger (which you can buy in
small tins at specialty food stores or in bulk form from the health food
store). Another idea is to add a little more
molasses to the batter or use 'dark' molasses instead of 'light'. There are two types of molasses generally used in baking; light and dark.
While I have used light molasses in this recipe, as I mentioned above,
if you want a cookie with a more robust flavor, try using the dark molasses.
Light molasses comes from the first boiling of the sugar syrup and is
lighter in flavor and color than the dark molasses which comes from the
second boiling. Molasses is usually labeled as "sulphured"
or "unsulphured" depending on whether sulphur was used in the processing. I prefer the unsulphured molasses which is lighter in color and tends to have a nicer
flavor. By the way, molasses is used in baked goods, not only for
flavor, but also for color and moistness. Also, because molasses does stick
to your measuring cup, it is a good idea to lightly spray
your measuring cup with a nonstick vegetable spray before pouring in the
molasses.
Other ginger flavored cookies you may want to try are
Ginger Cookies,
Gingerbread Cookies, and
Molasses Cookies.
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Gingersnaps: In the bowl of
your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugars until
light and fluffy (about 2 - 3 minutes). Add the molasses, egg,
and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. In a separate bowl
whisk together the
flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to the butter mixture and mix
until well combined. Cover and chill the batter for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the
oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with
parchment paper.
Place about
1 cup (200 grams) of white granulated sugar in a medium sized bowl. When
the dough has chilled sufficiently, roll into 1 inch (2.54 cm) balls. Then
roll the balls of dough into the sugar, coating them thoroughly. Place on
the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart and, with the bottom of a glass,
flatten the cookies slightly. Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes or until the
cookies feel dry and firm on top. (The longer the cookies bake, the more
crisp they will be.) Cool on a wire rack.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
Sources:
Lebovitz. David. 'Room for
Dessert'. Harper Collins Publishers. New York: 1999.
Yard, Sherry. 'The Secrets of
Baking'. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York: 2003. |
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Gingersnaps:
3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted
butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (105 grams) dark brown
sugar
1/2 cup (100 grams) white
granulated sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure
vanilla extract
2 cups (260 grams) all purpose
flour
1/2 teaspoon
baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Garnish:
1 cup (200 grams)
granulated white sugar or coarse white or brown sugar (for covering the cookie
balls before baking)
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