Over the weekend, my pal Eva got married to her beau, Warren. Their wedding was absolutely gorgeous and their adoration of each other clear for all to see. It was, in a word, lovely. I was lucky that E&W entrusted me with the honour of making chocolate ginger cookies as their wedding giveaways. I adore these cookies and have been making them for quite a few years. They can be a little labour intensive, but the results are worth it. The plan was to be able to give three cookies to each guest, packaged in a super cute turquoise coloured takeout box. I did the math and realized that this would mean about 500 cookies – I always bake extra to be safe and to allow for quality control (read: taste testing). I assembled the ingredients, and got my bake on. Two things I have realized when baking large quantities of this recipe: peel and freeze your ginger facilitating easy grating and chop your chocolate in advance. I baked about half of the cookies and then prepped ingredients for a day of baking with Eva. She wanted to help, which was fantastic. As is obvious, I love baking. I also love when other people want to bake, and when people appreciate baked treats. Eva and I spent a morning happily baking, and managed to get the rest of the cookies baked. These cookies do freeze well, and can be defrosted just before packaging. I missed out on the packaging party, but I did love the results. I hope the wedding guests enjoyed their treats.

Here is the recipe, adapted from Martha Stewart:

  • 7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
  • 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
  • 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup  molasses
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar (for rolling cookies in)

Directions

  1.  Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.
  3. 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. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more (overnight works well).
  4. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 – inch balls;  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.