After a fun, memorable, food coma inducing Thanksgiving trip to Nashville, the madness of the Christmas holidays has already begun. Between deciding which holiday decorations to bring down from the attic to determining which Christmas confections to make this year, my head is already spinning. Unlike in prior years when I spent three exhaustive twelve-plus hours days baking and creating more than a dozen cookie gift boxes to ship, this will be a scaled back year. While the number of cookies baked and packages sent will be less this year, one thing will remain the same. They will all be made with the best ingredients and love.
Just as my Christmas collections have grown over the years, so have the number of my favorite Christmas cookies and confections. Which not surprisingly makes for a slightly more complicated baking decision making process. And these insanely delicious thick Spiced Ginger Cookies with White Chocolate Icing have now made things a bit more challenging. After having just one bite of these crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside deeply spiced cookies, I cannot begin to imagine a Christmas season without them. That's how scrumptious they are.
What gives these Spiced Ginger Cookies with White Chocolate Icing such a deep gingery flavor is the use of both ground and finely chopped crystallized ginger. Added spiciness comes from cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice and black pepper. Yes, black pepper. Dark brown sugar and molasses help to create a cookie with an even richer flavor and chewier texture. Rolled in granulated sugar as well as dipped or drizzled in white chocolate transforms them into an even more extraordinary ginger cookie. They are the epitome of visions of sugar plums!
What is not to love (even more) than a cookie made in a single bowl using only a whisk and a spatula?
Once the dry ingredients are blended together a well is created in the center for the 'wet' ingredients. After a quick whisk of the wet ingredients, the dough comes together with the use of a spatula.
The result is a very thick, dense dough. Aka the perfect spiced ginger cookie dough.
The recipe will make 18 ping pong ball sized balls of dough. The use of a cookie scoop (about 1 3/4 inches in diameter) helps to create the most uniformed sized balls. The ice cream scooped dough is first rolled into balls then rolled in granulated sugar. If you don't have that size of an ice cream scoop, form the balls with two generous sized tablespoons.
The cookies will spread slightly when baking so giving them enough space on the baking tray is key. In a preheated 350 degree (F) oven, the cookies bake for only 11-13 minutes. The cookies will look slightly under baked although their bottoms should be a shade darker. They will continue to bake when left on the baking sheet for 6 to 8 minutes before being transferred to a cooling rack. It's critical you not eat the Spiced Ginger Cookies until they have cooled for at least 15-20 minutes. Because if you bite into them any sooner you will be wondering what kind of extraordinary cookie looks slightly raw in the center. Because all ovens bake differently, I highly recommend you bake up a small batch (maybe just 2 cookies) first to determine the baking time yielding the absolute best ginger cookie texture.
Here are several more tips to help you create the best ever spiced ginger cookie. When rotating your baking sheet midway through the baking process, lightly sprinkle the tops of them with a little more granulated sugar. Then, after the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 6-8 minutes, use the bottom of a juice glass to very slightly press down their domed tops.
I couldn't decide whether to dip half of the Spiced Ginger Cookies in melted white chocolate or generously drizzle them. So I finished them both ways. The white chocolate adds a nuance of flavor that doesn't overwhelm but rather compliments the spiciness of the cookie.
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As you ponder what holiday cookies to make this.year for your family and friends, you should absolutely put these deeply spiced, crispy, chewy, delectable ginger cookies high on your list! Did I mention they also happen to have the added qualities of being gorgeous, crowd pleasing, and craveworthy? And last, but not least, these Spiced Ginger Cookies with White Chocolate Icing shouldn't be pigeonholed into the 'holiday cookie' category even though their spiced flavor screams Christmas. Because they are the kind of cookies you will want to eat year round in cold or chilly weather as they will help warm you up. Happy holiday baking!
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Recipe
Spiced Ginger Cookies w/ White Chocolate Icing
Makes 18 - 3" sized cookies
Ingredients
2 1/3 cups (304g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (6g) ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon Saigon cinnamon (or Vietnamese cinnamon)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 very slightly rounded teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
12 Tablespoons (170g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup (150g) molasses
2/3 cup (140g) dark brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
3 Tablespoons (45g) crystallized ginger, finely chopped
4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
6 ounces (170g) white chocolate (see notes)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line two baking rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, baking soda, Kosher salt, and black pepper until blended.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in the melted butter, egg yolk, dark brown sugar, molasses and chopped crystallized ginger. Use a whisk just mix the wet ingredients in the center of the bowl. Then use a spatula to finish mixing the dough (it will be thick).
4. Using a 1 3/4 inch cookie scoop create balls of dough the size of ping pong balls. Alternately use two tablespoon of dough to create the balls. Roll the balls of dough to smooth the edges.
5. Roll the balls of the dough in the granulated sugar.
6. Place 9 of the sugar rolled balls of dough on the baking sheet, giving two inches of space between them. Note: You will bake up two trays having 9 cookies on each.
7. Bake for 11-13 minutes or just until cracks begin to show. Midway through the baking process, quickly sprinkle the top of each cookie with a little more sugar and rotate the baking sheet. The cookie should still be soft and look slightly under baked. Allow the baked cookies to remain on the cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes before removing and transferring to a cooling rack. Use the bottom of glass to press the domed tops of the cookies down slightly. Allow to cool completely! Remember don't eat them until more than 15 minutes has passed.
8. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. Either dip half of the completely cooled cookies in the melted white chocolate or drizzle using a pastry bag. Allow the chocolate to set.
Notes: (1) Cookies will be moist and tender on the inside while crisp on the outside. Individually wrapped in cellophane or glassine bags OR stored in a tightly coveted container, the cookies will be great for up to a week, but still really good for up to 2 weeks. However, it's not likely they will last that long! Keeping the cookies wrapped and stored in the refrigerator will extend their enjoyability life! 2) I use either the Ghiradelli White Chocolate melting disks or white chocolate disks from my local chocolate confectionary. Do not use the melting disks found at some craft stores or chocolate chips. (3) This recipe was heavily inspired by Smitten Kitchen's Thick Molasses Spice Cookies recipe.
Cheekwood, Nashville, TN (November 2022)
