Triple Ginger Cookies

The day finally arrived that I have been waiting for for several months. Ever since the cool days of spring burned into the heat of summer I have been dreaming of a whole houseful of tiny ginger cookies. Now that it is cool enough to bake again, it is time to break out the oven mitts.

Thank goodness I started the cookies as soon as I got home from lunch with a friend - otherwise my plans would have been ousted in favor of fixing apples and cabbage.

This is my favorite photo. The flour is on top, the crystallized ginger on the bottom left, and the fresh ginger in the measuring spoon. There is also powdered ginger which has already been mixed into the flour. There. Is. A. Lot. Of. Ginger. In. These. Puppies.

And they are oh so chewy and gingery. Yum. Double Yum. I almost went into sugar shock from just three tiny cookies. They are pure, unadulterated sugar.

Love at first sniff. Since it is my birthday, Kevin didn't even complain too much about the intensity of the ginger smell. He's such a great hubby.

Triple Ginger Cookies

1/2+ cup large-grain sugar (i.e. turbinado)

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoons baking soda

4 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
2/3 cup fine grain natural cane sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 large egg, well beaten
1 cup crystallized ginger, then finely minced
1 t lemon or orange zest

Preheat the oven to 350F degree. Line a couple baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper or a Silpat mat, place the large-grain sugar in a small bowl, and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, and salt.

Heat the butter in a skillet until it is just barely melted. Stir in the molasses, natural cane sugar, and fresh ginger. The mixture should be warm, but not hot at this point, if it is hot to touch let it cool a bit. Whisk in the egg. Now pour this over the flour mixture, add the crystallized ginger (make sure it isn't too clumpy), and lemon zest. Stir until just combined.

Use a small cookie scoop, then tear that ball in half. Roll it into a ball and then into the turbinado sugar. Place dough a few inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until cookies puff up, darken a bit, get fragrant and crack.

Gingerbread Cake

Ginger. Ha a more delicious word ever been invented?

Shockingly, Kevin does not like ginger. I found this out the hard way. We were walking around Minnehaha Falls, and we stopped in the snack shop for ice cream. Harper was with us, and we couldn't all go inside, so I went in alone.

Inside the gift shop I was confronted with an issue. Kevin wanted cookies and cream, and one of the other ice cream flavors was ginger. Great. We had the flavors figured out. Two cups with one scoop each was $1 more than two scoops in the same cup. What is a cheapskate to do?

I got both scoops in the same cup. Ginger was on the top and the flavor infiltrated the cookies and cream. Kevin was very, very cranky because he couldn't eat his cookies and cream, and he didn't want to go back inside and get another cup. Ahhh... It took several months, but we finally moved past the ginger escapade.

In spite of all the trouble it has caused, ginger will always hold a special place with my taste buds. This cake was dense, rich, and completely satisfying of my craving.

Gingerbread Cake

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C butter, softened

1 egg

1 C molasses (I used half black strap, half regular)

2 1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1 t ground ginger (I used 1/2 t ground ginger and 1 t grated fresh ginger)

1/2 t ground cloves

1/2 t salt

1 C hot water

Grease a 9 inch square pan. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees, until a knife inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.