Friday, December 11, 2009

Twelve Treats of Christmas-Soft and Spicy Ginger Cookies

You know how there are just some people you implicitly trust to make certain decisions? My mom, for example. I'd trust her 100% to find the best bargain out there.

Katie is another person I have complete trust in. Her realm is recipes. Every recipe I've ever made from her blog has been fantastic. So when she posted a recipe for soft ginger cookies, I flat out stopped looking for the recipe I wanted to make. I knew hers would be perfect.  It was!

These cookies mark my first time working with royal icing. The royal icing wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be. After a few ugly first cookies (I baked up the scraps left from my cut outs for practice), I was ready to try the real deal. They definitely aren't perfectly piped, but I'd say I did a pretty decent job for my first shot!


soft ginger cookies

Soft and Spicy Ginger Cookies

seen on Good Things Catered
adapted from allrecipes
printer-friendly recipe

Ingredients:
For cookies:
1 c. unsalted butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. molasses
1 egg
4 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. freshly-ground nutmeg

For royal icing:
4 c. (1 lb.) confectioners' sugar
3 TBSP meringue powder
4-6 TBSP warm water, depending on humidity of where you live

Directions:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, approximately four minutes. Stir in molasses and egg.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Blend into the molasses mixture until smooth.

3. Cover, and chill for at least one hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line with parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness.

5. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until they hold their shape without being too firm.

7. Let cool for 10 minutes on pan. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.

8. To make royal icing, place confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, and 4 TBSP water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beginning on low speed, mix ingredients. Add additional water, one TBSP at a time, until icing reaches desired consistency.

9. Turn mixer to medium-low and run for 7-10 minutes, until the sheen comes off the icing.

10. Because royal icing dries very quickly, immediately place any unused icing in a tightly sealed storage container with a layer of plastic wrap directly on the icing. Keep in the refrigerator until use.

One year ago: gumdrop cookies