Normally, I’m a very by-the-book sort of baker. In fact, that’s really why I enjoy baking so much in the first place—follow the directions, measure well, put it in the oven and voila! Sugary goodness. For me, cooking is really just my freshman year chemistry lab with a pink apron instead of plastic goggles.
This time, however, since I was tripling my recipe and had a lot of cookie dough to work with, I decided to exercise some creativity. The original recipe called for ginger, but, since my ginger supply was a little low, I substituted cinnamon for one batch and vanilla for another. Had I been quadrupling the recipe, lemon zest was going to be my next plan of attack.
These are fairly hard cookies, and will keep in an air-tight container for up to a week. If you want to mail cookies across the country, these are a great option.
Directions:
Makes 2 dozen cookies.
Cookies:
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger OR 1 teaspoon cinnamon OR 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla OR [insert yummy ingredient]
Topping:
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 tablespoon shortening
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger OR 1 teaspoon cinnamon OR 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla OR [insert yummy ingredient]
Topping:
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 tablespoon shortening
Preheat the oven to 375 o and butter a cookie sheet.
Mix eggs and butter.
Add sugar, mix well.
Add dry in ingredients, mix well.
Add sugar, mix well.
Add dry in ingredients, mix well.
Refrigerate the dough for 10 minutes, or until firm.
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| Ginger, Vanilla, and Cinnamon Dough. |
Roll the dough into a ¼ inch thick sheet. Use a 2 inch round cookie cutter to cut the dough into shapes.
Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
While cookies are cooling, melt chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute.
Stir in shortening until chocolate is nice and runny.
Using a fork, drizzle chocolate over cookies. Beautiful!
While cookies are cooling, melt chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute.
Stir in shortening until chocolate is nice and runny.
Using a fork, drizzle chocolate over cookies. Beautiful!
Since these cookies were accompanying thank you notes to be mailed across the country (Sensing a theme yet? Thank you notes = Accompanying baked goods.), I had to make sure they would travel well. I wrapped the cookies in wax paper, and then packed them in metal cookie tins from Michael’s (possibly my favorite store in the entire world).
The three tins I bought at Michael’s didn’t quite fit all 6 dozen cookies, but I have a feeling the leftovers will still wind up being eaten....
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