Ginger Snaps

My good friend, Christine, and I recently decided we would like to have our own little baking 'group' tentatively titled, Two Hot Chicks Baking. For our first, time out, Christine choose Alton Brown's Gingersnaps. I love gingersnaps and AB so this was an excellent choice in my opinion.

I've never made home made gingersnaps. The only ones I've been exposed to are the store bought cookies. While most of them are good, like most store boughts, they never quite taste the same as something fresh from the oven.

These were a snap (hehe) to put together. I made half of batch since a full was supposed to make about 4 dozen. Too many for me! However, I only got 1 1/2 dozen out of half of a batch. My scoops were probably a little bigger than recommended. The cookies weren't too big though.

I didn't have any fresh ginger or candied so I left those out. I added extra ground ginger to boost the ginger flavor. I'll try and pick up some candied and fresh to have around next time I want to make these (which I will because they were good!).

Alton gives you a baking time option depending on if you want soft or crispier cookies. I like my cookies on the crispy side so I baked mine for 14 minutes. They came out perfectly! Just the right amount of snap and chewiness. Even without the candied and fresh ginger, the ginger came out very well. If I were to bake them again without though, I would add a bit more ginger to boost the flavor a bit. It was tasty but I felt it could use just a touch more ginger. Of course, the candied and fresh probably take care of that anyway! lol.

A great cookie from my favorite AB! I'll definitely be making these again. And I won't wait until Christmas either! They are just too tasty!

Alton Brown's Ginger Snaps
Source: Food Network

Ingredients

* 9 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 tablespoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
* 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 7 ounces dark brown sugar
* 5 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
* 3 ounces molasses, by weight
* 1 large egg, room temperature
* 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
* 4 ounces finely chopped candied ginger

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cardamom, clove and salt.

Place the brown sugar and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and fresh ginger and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add the crystallized ginger and using a rubber spatula, stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined.

With a 2-teaspoon sized scoop, drop the dough onto a parchment lined half sheet pan approximately 2-inches apart. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes for slightly chewy cookies or 15 minutes for more crisp cookies. Rotate the pan halfway through cooking.

Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to stay on the sheet pan for 30 seconds before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with all of the dough. Store in an airtight container for up 10 days. If desired, you may scoop and freeze the cookie dough on a sheet pan and once frozen, place in a resealable bag to store. Bake directly from the freezer as above.