Ginger Sparkle Cookies

This is an old family favourite of mine, passed down from the Admiral Catnap (retired), same as the Strawberry-Rhubarb pie.  Well, not exactly the same recipe because I altered it a bit.  But don't worry, I will tell you both versions so you can make up your own mind whch to make.  Either way, you'll end up with a great tasting cookie that will disappear faster than you can say "thank you Admiral Catnap (retired)."

One of the main alterations to the Admiral's recipe is the addition of candied ginger.  Not just any will do, though.  We looked many places for ginger strong enough for the ginger taste to outweigh the sugar.  Turns out the bulk bins at a local supermarket had the best.  Here in the Calico Kitchen, we all love the taste of ginger.  And you don't need to worry about this overpowering the taste of the cookie because even the strongest candied ginger we found was subdued after combining with the rest of the ingredients.

Another change was omitting some sugar.  There was just too much in my opinion and even the revised recipe tastes very sweet.  But, take your choice.  It'll be fabulous either way.

Here are the ingredients for the modified recipe.

The dry ingredients:

• 250g (2 cups) whole wheat flour
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) ground cloves
• 5 ml (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
• 5 ml (1 tsp) ground ginger
• 10 ml (2 tsp) baking soda
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) salt

The wet ingredients:

• 180 ml (3/4 cup) butter
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) molasses
• 1 egg

• 375 ml (1 1/2 cups) candied ginger, chopped finely
•  white granulated sugar in a bowl for rolling

The original recipe has the following changes:

• Add 250 ml (1 cup) brown sugar, packed, to the wet ingredients
• Use white flour instead of whole wheat
• Omit the candied ginger

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180 C (375 F).

Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl.

In a larger bowl, cream the wet ingredients together.

The wet ingredients after some mixing

Add the dry ingredients and the candied ginger to the wet ingredients and mix well. 

The dry ingredients added to the wet ingredients

This will get very thick.  This is OK.

After mixing.  Nice and thick with ginger chunks

Using your hands, shape the dough into 2 cm balls.  Then roll the balls in a bowl of granulated sugar -- this adds the sparkle!.  Place the balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Alternatively, you can grease a cookie sheet instead of using the parchment.  The cookies should be at least 5 cm apart.

Roll the balls in sugar

Use a fork to flatten the cookies.

Flattening the cookies on the baking sheet

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes.  After they're done, remove to a rack and cool slightly.

Makes about two dozen cookies.

If your house is anything like ours, these will disappear soon.  I had intended to take some to the office but there were none left the next day!

Next time, I'll double the recipe and see if that helps with having enough leftovers to share in the office.  But that's probably wishful thinking.

And what does Bow-Tie Calico think?  Well, see for yourself.

Approve!