Ginger Molasses Cookies

We've been watching a lot of Fantastic Mr. Fox lately, and thought it'd be fun to make a special treat that my little one could doubly enjoy since it's referenced in the movie. Mrs. Bean's nutmeg ginger apple snaps seemed like they would be a hit. Alas, I was short on some of the required ingredients and ended up making a simpler version that still turned out quite 'fantastic'. 

They are irresistibly thin, yet still stay soft and very chewy, thanks to to the only sugars being molasses and brown sugar. Even with the heavy amount of ground and fresh ginger, they didn't taste overly gingery and combined perfectly with the rest of the autumnal flavors. The recipe makes a big batch of cookies, and while I was placing a stack of them in the freezer, I knew I'd definitely have to try making these into some dynamite ice cream sandwiches. For next time. 

This version I adapted from Mario Batali's recipe, which I will eventually attempt so we can try the real deal. In case you haven't seen the movie and are wondering how Mr. Batali came about creating this recipe (or even if you have, you may have missed it), Batali has a 'cameo' so to speak as Rabbit, who happened to be a dazzlingly fast chef in the film. 

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks), softened to room temp

2 cups light brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses, preferably not an extra dark variety

2 large eggs

3 1/2 cups unbleached AP flour

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

pinch of ground allspice

3 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated

Preheat oven to 350*. In a standing mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 6 - 7 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, ground ginger, nutmeg, soda, cinnamon, salt and allspice. Whisk together to combine.

Add molasses and eggs to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix on medium low until well combined. Add grated ginger. Adjust speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined, about 2 minutes.

If you want to appease any little ones hovering nearby, use pasteurized eggs so they can enjoy some of the delicious dough. Or live on the wild side and let them have just, um, a little.

Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat. Drop the dough in 1 Tbsp increments, about 6 per sheet to avoid them from running into one another. They spread a lot. You can bake on each sheet of parchment twice before they're spent, then use a fresh sheet. Bake one sheet at a time for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and let sit on the sheet for 1 minute to allow the cookies to set before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

If you don't feel like baking these all at once, simply cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and throw in the fridge (it'll keep for 2 days), just add 2 minutes onto the baking time if you're going to bake them straight from the fridge. The dough also freezes well for up to 6 weeks, the baked cookies up to 1 month.

recipe adapted from Mrs. Beans Famous Nutmeg Ginger Apple Snaps by Mario Batali 

Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies

Every morning that my little girl wakes up, she is hungry. No hellos, good mornings or other greeting. 'num num? num num?!' she desperately calls out. To an outsider it may appear that we never feed her, when its actually quite the opposite. A big request lately that has been accompanying the num nums is 'cookie?' The fact that she always has this forlorn tone doesn't help her seem any less pitiful. So yesterday I finally kowtowed to her request, and I definitely got the sense from her that she knew this was inevitable. 

I don't know why oatmeal raisin cookies seem like a 'healthy' cookie option to me. There's the same amount of sugar and butter, yet the subtle bump in nutritional value from the oatmeal and raisins gets me every time. I adore nuts in my oatmeal cookies, so pecans were a must. I wanted to try something else besides cinnamon, and some ground cardamom found its way in there too. Just adding a pinch of it adds this wonderfully subtle floral note to the cookie. 

INGREDIENTS

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cardamom
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups pecans, almonds or walnuts coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325*. Ensure the racks are in the middle 2 slots in the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silpat. 

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cardamom in a medium bowl and stir well with a whisk. Set aside.

Mix the butter and sugars on medium high speed in a standing mixer till light and fluffy, about 3 - 6 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time with the mixer on medium, ensuring the first is fully incorporated before adding the second. Scrape the bowl a couple times during these additions. 

Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients with the mixer on low till just incorporated. Turn off the mixer and add the nuts, oats and raisins. Mix till just combined.

Measure out the dough into 1/4 cup increments and lightly roll into a ball. Place on lined cookie sheets and flatten slightly with palm. Bake for 22 - 25 minutes, 2 sheets at a time, rotating them on the racks and turning sheets 180* halfway through cooking time. When done, cookies should be lightly golden brown at the edges and set, but still look soft and squidgy in the center. 

Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the sheets for 10 minutes. Place the cookies on cooling racks to finish cooling. These cookies are good warm, but even better the 2nd day if stored in an air tight glass container. Yields about 20 cookies.

Recipe adapted from America's Test Kitchen

Vanilla Chai Cookies

I recently made a batch of vanilla sugar and was just itching to use it. I was patient and waited 2 weeks (almost) so I'd end up with a nice potent batch. Remembering my fondness for vanilla chai lattes, I figured a cookie version of this would be a lovely homage to them. 

I made several batches of these little buggers until I arrived at what I was tasting in my mind - vanilla at the forefront, with warm chai spices and a hint of black tea, all carried within a crisply shelled yet chewy cookie. 

One nice thing about experimenting, was that with the same exact batter, 2 distinct cookie aesthetics and textures can be obtained. Whether you want a traditional sugar cookie texture and appearance as shown above, or a craggy shelled and gooey centered cookie as pictured below...

the only thing needed is a pint glass in which the bottom has been spritzed with canola oil, and dipped in vanilla sugar. To get a more traditional sugar cookie, simply press down on each round mound of dough till it is about equal with the width of the glass, as well as reduce baking time by a minute. That is it! I must admit, I was a little astounded at the difference this made. I loved them both, but I do lean towards the craggy and extra chewy variety. 

Another bonus about this recipe is that there is no special equipment needed - just a couple of bowls, a nice sturdy spoon, and a little elbow grease. No waiting for butter to reach room temp either - its melted!

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

1 1/2 tsp Penzey's Spices cardamom

1 stick unsalted butter, melted
4 Tbsp vegetable shortening, melted
3 bags of your favorite chai tea
1 large egg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 Tbsp milk or low fat coconut milk
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup vanilla sugar for rolling the cookies before baking

Preheat oven to 350 and make sure there is a rack in the middle position in the oven. Place butter and shortening in a small saucepan over medium low heat until the butter is just melted. Open the chai tea bags and empty the contents into the warm melted butter. Set aside.

Whisk together flour, soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cardamom in a medium bowl. In a larger bowl, lightly beat the egg and stir in sugar and light brown sugar. Pour in the melted butter, shortening, with the steeped tea leaves. Add the vanilla and stir well. 

Add a 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Continue this until all ingredients are mixed together, taking care not to over mix. Measure out the vanilla sugar into a small bowl.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment, or silicone baking mats. Roll about 2 dozen slightly smaller than golf ball sized balls - I believe this is roughly under 2 Tbsp of dough per cookie. If you have that size disher (#40 I believe), by all means, use it to portion out the dough. It is still essential to roll the dough into a pretty evenly round ball.

Working with 8 balls of dough at a time (these bake up in 3 batches), roll them in the vanilla sugar and place on the cookie sheets leaving plenty of room in between. Here is where your cookie appearance choice comes into play - for a craggy top with squidgy inside, let them be. For a smoother, more traditional sugar cookie appearance and texture (crisp edges, chewy center), lightly spray the bottom of a pint glass with canola oil and dip the bottom in the vanilla sugar. Gently press down on each ball till it is even with the edge of the glass. Bake in the oven for 12 - 14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking time. Just a heads up, the flattened balls will bake up slightly faster than the unflattened, so keep an eye on them.

Remove from oven and let cool on tray for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool enough to where you won't burn your tongue when housing the cookies. These cookies probably won't last very long anyways, but be advised that they really don't last long. I've found that even in a very airtight container they only are very good for a couple days. They start to get crisper as time goes on. If any one knows a way to prevent this (should I not be using melted butter?!), please let me know!