They’re like a big warm and cozy hug wrapped up in the shape of a cookie.
Chewy, not too sweet and packed with warm spices, it evokes all the best memoriesof autumn and wintertime.
Ginger is one of those ingredients that I occasionally crave. Truth be told, I didn’t grow up consuming much ginger at all (does ginger ale count?). Southern cooking traditions in my family tree don’t use it, at least not unless making ginger-lemon tea or adding it fresh to a spicy-kick-the-cold-away chicken soup (two of my personal contributions to my family’s heritage cooking). Every so often, my parents would buy ginger snaps. Initially I was repulsed by the pungent ginger flavor and the lingering subtle heat but then the more I tasted them, the more the flavor melded with my tastebuds acquainting them in a sense to a revelatory flavor experience that awakened something in me.
Flash forward a few decades and as soon as autumn starts nipping at the door, cooler mornings, leaves starting to fall, sweaters becoming a staple, I crave the warm spices of the season in sweet and savory ways. Guess I am team PSL after all, lol! What I’m getting at here is that these cookies reflect a cozy nostalgic feeling of my connection to autumn, my favorite season. They’ll make you and whomever you choose to share them with smile and delve into the new season with open arms.
Chewy Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter 1 stick
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp table salt
- 1 ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- a pinch nutmeg optional
- ¼ cup white sugar for rolling the cookie dough pre-baking
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons white sugar and molasses.
- Add egg and vanilla and whisk until incorporated.
- In another bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg (if using) and stir well.
- Add flour mixture, half at a time, stirring between each addition.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Scoop out 2 tablespoons of dough and shape into a ball. Roll in the reserved 1/4 cup white sugar and place on baking sheet.
- Using the back of a fork, create a criss cross design on top of the cookie dough ball. Repeat until you have filled your cookie sheet with 6 dough balls.
- Bake until just golden around the edges but still soft in the middle, about 8 to 9 minutes. Please don't overbake or the cookies won't be chewy.
- Remove the cookies from the baking sheet and cool on a cooling rack for 5 to 10 minutes.