My co worker Sarafina is quite the baker and sitting daily next to a serious master of the art means that I often get to sample her goods. This holiday season, a gift baggie of various cookies offered lots to rave about, but the two (I had to pick at least two, it was too hard to pick just one) that stand out the most are the brown butter brown sugar shorties which can be found on Smitten Kitchen and the moistest ginger snaps in the world. Recipe follows:
from Nick Malgieri's Cookies Unlimited
The Good Cook's Gingersnaps
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup or more for finishing
1 large egg room temp.
1/4 cup molasses
cookie sheets covered in parchment paper
– Set racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
-Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl; stir well to mix
-In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together on medium speed the butter and 1 cup of sugar for about 5 minutes until very light and fluffy and whitened. Add egg and continue beating until smooth.
– Lower the speed and beat in half the dry ingredients, then the molasses. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beater. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients.
– Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a spatula to finish mixing the bowl.
– Place the extra sugar in bowl, roll 1 inch diameter balls out of the dough and roll them in the sugar. Place the balls on the prepared pans leaving about 3 inches all round each to allow for spreading.
– Bake the cookies for about 15 to 20 minutes or until they have spread, colored, the surface has crackled and they are firm to the touch. Slide the papers from the pans to cooling racks. The cookies become crisp as they cool.
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But what do you think?