Sunday, March 28, 2010

Soft, Spicy, Heavenly Ginger Cookies - Online

This RecipeZaar Recipe for Ginger Cookies is absolutely phenomenal.  RecipeZaar is quickly becoming my favorite resource for finding recipes online for several reasons.  First, the user ratings are helpful in determining which recipes are worth experimenting with - obviously the better the rating by the larger number of users is a pretty good tip-off that, unless I royally screw up, the recipe will be decent.  And secondly, the user reviews are worth reading for additional experimentation suggestions such as ingredient substitutions.

Ingredients
3/4 c. margarine, softened (I used Earth Balance)
1 c. white sugar
1/4 c. molasses
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg....[I ended up using pumpkin pie spice as a substitute for all of the powdered spices because I was too lazy to fish out each individual spice since my spices are so unorganized - note to self: purchase spice rack.]
1 TBS. fresh ginger, chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. raisins (optional - I opted out)
2 TBL. white sugar - I accidentally omitted this, but didn't miss it!

What To Do:
1) In a large bowl, cream together the vegan marg. and 1 c. sugar until light and fluffy.  Stir in the molasses.  Finally, mix in the water and baking soda. [I used my sexy KitchenAid Stand Mixer]

2) Sift together the flour, salt, and dry spices; add gradually to the wet mixture.  Fold in the minced ginger and raisins. [Again, I omitted the raisins, but think that chocolate chips might be a nice addition when I make these cookies in the future.  Also, my dough was on the wet side, so I let it sit for overnight in the fridge - worked like a charm!].

3) (The next day,) shape the dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 TBS of sugar.  [I used a TBS. measuring spoon to create perfectly uniform cookies.  And, I did not roll the dough into the additional sugar, and really, the extra sugar wasn't missed.]

4) Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly. [I lined the cookie sheet with parchment paper, and forgot to "flatten slightly" but again, the cookies turned out damn delicious.]  Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. [I baked the cookies for the full 12 minutes and they came out wonderfully golden brown.]

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