blackstrap

This time, it was all Nic's fault. Yes, maybe it was I who proposed baking as a means for passing the droll hours of the evening, but it was Nic who demanded ginger cookies.

Something everyone should know about me: I love ginger cookies. Shocking, you may think (sarcastically), considering I love almost all cookies and food containing high proportions of sugar. But ginger cookies hold a special place in my heart. When I was little, my favorite treat was a giant, sugar coated ginger cookie and steamed milk (nostalgia!).

My first experience of baking ginger cookies, however, caused me to reassess my adoration. I can't recall where I obtained the recipe, or what the occasion was for the biscuits, but I vividly remember feeling overcome with the taste of molasses in every bite. Now, I appreciate that molasses is essential to most ginger cookies, but I would rather not be reminded of this when I eat the final result.

The cookie recipe Nic forced upon us all fully redeemed ginger cookies in my mind and taste buds. Also, shout out to Emma for reading me the instructions and ingredient amounts. Luv u. Here's how it went:

Ginger Redemption Song
(adapted from the Cookie and Biscuit Bible by C. Atkinson)

* 2 1/2 cups flour
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp ground ginger
* 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp ground cloves
* 1 stick butterrr (I think we used salted)
* 1 1/4 cups sugar
* 1 egg
* 4 tbsp molasses (don't be afraid! It's not that much)
* 1 tsp lemon juice
* optional: we added about 1/3 cups tiny candied ginger pieces. Big plus.

Preheat oven to 325˚. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well. Mix in lemon juice and molasses.

Separately combine flour, bicarb and spices. SLOWLY add this mixture in batches. Let someone like Dani who likes mixing things that resist being mixed do this part. If you are adding ginger pieces, do this now.


















The original recipe calls for rolling the dough into balls, then rolling these in more sugar. I "forgot" to do this, and was far from displeased with my oversight.

Note: the candied ginger made it a little harder for the balls of dough to stick together, but just make sure the pieces are very small and it should be fine.














Bake for 12-15 minutes. Eat for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner.