Ginger Cookies

The other day, I got Anna and Rigo to take me to the mall, because as I told Rigo, it's my natural habitat and I could die if I'm away for too long. In return for the suffering of wandering the mall with me, I told him I would make him ginger cookies, which I had made last week and he absolutely loved. When I made them last week, I made them into ice cream sandwiches with vanilla ice cream. They were absolutely fabulous.

However, while Rigo and I loved them, Anna and Elisheva thought they were too sweet. So this time around, I made them with half the sugar. Elisheva also requested that I add chopped candied ginger into the cookies. I added it to about half, and decorated their tops with it, so they could be identified. 

Both Rigo and I thought that they weren't sweet enough, and like the original recipe. However, Anna and Elisheva both loved these. Elisheva tasted one and said, "Now this is a sophisticated cookie!" And they were all gone within two days. 

This recipe is not very sweet, but still tastes wonderful with vanilla ice cream. It really brings out the ginger in the cookies. I like to make them small (smaller than the original recipe says) because that way you can eat more of them.

Ginger Cookies

original recipe at allrecipes
makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup candied ginger, chopped (probably just less than a quarter cup chopped, or however much you want)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
In a separate large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then the orange juice and molasses.
Stir the dry ingredients into the molasses mixture. Add the chopped ginger and mix in. Make a ball out of the dough, and put in the fridge to chill for about half an hour.
Using a tablespoon, make even balls out of the dough and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten the cookies to about half their original height.
Bake for 6-8 minutes, and try not to let them brown too much, then they become much more crunchy (unless that's what you're going for).
Let cool for about 5 minutes on pan, then transfer to a cooling rack. Make sure you store them in an airtight container so they don't get stale (if they survive that long!)


I also made matcha green tea cupcakes yesterday, but I didn't have time to take a picture because they all got eaten already!