Christmas Cookie Fail (Kind of)
I went to a holiday party a few weeks ago and had the best Christmas cookies I have ever had! They were Martha Stewart’s chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies. Very light and chewy, such great gingerbready-flavor, and the chocolate is a really nice touch.
Recipe:
- YieldMakes 2 dozen
Ingredients
- 7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
- 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
Directions
-
Line two baking sheets with parchment. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.
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In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.
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In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.
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Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
I baked them for my office holiday potluck. They didn’t come out as light and cracked as they were supposed to. Honestly, I am a pretty lazy cook, and so did not chill the dough for long enough—I only did 20 minutes for the first chill, and didn’t chill them at all after rolling the dough balls into the sugar.
But whatevs. They still tasted great!
Peep the pictures for some of the steps done correctly:-)
