Oh, snap! It’s cookie season!
I love traditional cookies–chocolate chip, peanut butter, etc. etc. but sometimes I like to switch it up. While I often revert back to the comfort of simple and traditional cookies, it’s fun to experiment a bit with the cookies you’ve always loved.
This year for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap (hosted by Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen), I decided to make chewy gingersnaps with a twist. I added some chai icing and sprinkled some grated crystalized ginger to top off each cookie! The crystalized ginger gives the cookie an added kick and the chai icing slightly sweetens each bite–it’s a great balance, if you ask meee!
I was hesitant on making these for the cookie swap because I know some people don’t favor ginger, but then I thought, why not?! Ginger is healthy and good for you. Plus, if they don’t like the cookies, I’m sure they can find someone who will eat them! Hopefully.
I really enjoyed the cookies myself, especially with a steaming hot cup of earl grey tea. They didn’t have too much “snap” and were soft and chewy…just how I like them. The crazy thing about this whole cookie exchange was mailing the cookies! When I packed them carefully, I thought I did a pretty good job. But once I handed the boxes over to the lady at the post office, she literally threw them about 10 feet into a large bin. Whaa??? So I hope they weren’t just a box of crumbs when they got to their respective addresses.
For this cookie exchange, I made 3 dozen of these cookies and sent 1 dozen off to 3 different bloggers. In return, I received 3 dozen cookies! 1 dozen each from 3 other bloggers. Unfortunately, my mailman doesn’t leave packages at my door so I still haven’t picked them up! I went on Saturday but the post office closed early! I’m so curious about who sent me cookies! And of course, I want to EAT THEM!
So to the bloggers who sent me cookies, THANK YOUUUU! I will find out who you are very soon and taste your delicious cookies.
And to Baking With Basil, Rhubarb and Honey, and A Gilt Nutmeg: I hope you enjoyed the cookies! Happy Holidays!!
Gingersnaps with Chai Icing and Crystalized Ginger (Cookie recipe adapted from Alphabet Soup Blog)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- additional granulated sugar for rolling, about 1/4 cup
- crystalized ginger, chopped or shredded
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-4 teaspoons chai concentrate
Cream together the butter and sugar. Then mix in the molasses and egg until everything is well incorporated.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and baking soda. In small amounts, slowly add this mixture to the butter/molasses bowl. Once everything is well mixed, wrap the dough up in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. You can also refrigerate it overnight!
When ready to bake the cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the additional sugar in a small bowl. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the sugar. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Each ball should be about 2 inches apart.
Bake cookies for 9-12 minutes. Let cool on the sheet for a couple minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
While the cookies are baking, make the icing and chop/shred the crystalized ginger. For the icing, place the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of chai concentrate at time until you get a nice icing consistency. Be careful because a single teaspoon can go a long way!
Once the cookies are completely cooled, drizzle or pipe icing across the cookies. While the icing is still wet, press on a couple pieces of crystalized ginger on each cookie.
Enjoy!
