You can never have too many cookies at tea time, or can you? I don’t think so. This recipe is a variation on the classes ginger molasses cookie. This is a great cookie recipe, soft, slightly chewy, sweet and yummy ginger chai cookies, made and given to me by a friend! I’m always the one doing the baking so it’s nice when someone returns the favour! 🙂
Christmas baking in our house was a hallowed tradition as our grandmother arrived with her little box of recipes, each painstakingly written out on a a little index card in tiny precise handwriting, and each a closely guarded secret to be passed on only very late in our grandmother’s life.
As kids, we would help her with the baking, under the understanding that those who helped got bowls to lick, and a first crack at whatever delicious goodness emerged from the oven.
One that we all lined up to help with was her soft ginger cookies. To be frank, I don’t think any would have survived to room temperature if we’d had our way. This recipe is a slight modification of her original, and remains the one cookie that never seems to survive with leftovers when put out on the table
There’s something about the warming qualities of spices in a soft, sweet, molasses cookie that is perfect for warming the body and soul on a cold winter day, or any other day for that matter.
Ingredients
- 3/4 C butter – room temperature
- 1 C sugar
- 4 tbsp molasses
- 1 egg, whisked
- 2 C flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt, ground ginger
- 2 tsp chai spice* (recipe in notes below)
- icing sugar
Equipment
- 2 mixing bowls
- 2 cookie sheets, not greased (non-slip finish works well)
- 1 small cereal bowl
- wire cooling racks
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 250F degrees
- Cream butter and sugar together in the largest bowl (good arm workout!)
- Add molasses and egg. Mix well
- Sift/mix (with fork) together flour, baking soda, salt & spices
- Add half the dry mixture into the wet. Mix well
- Add remaining dry mixture. Mix well (but don’t over mix)
- In cereal bowl, put a half-inch layer of icing sugar
- Using spoon, scoop out walnut sized balls of dough. Roll into a ball by hand. Roll in the icing sugar. Put on a cookie sheet
- Create rows of cookies on sheet. Keep an inch of space between the cookie balls and edges of the sheet (they will sink and expand)
- Bake 10-12 minutes until ‘look right’.
- Continue rolling balls onto the second cookie sheet, ready to put into oven after first batch
- Remove from oven. Let sit about 1 minute, then use spatula to move them onto the wire cooking rack. If you let them stay on the hot cookie sheet, they will overcook
- Note that they are soft cookies. Don’t wait until they are firm
Makes about 3 dozen cookies, depending on how big you make the cookies
Modifications:
Me personally, I find this cookie a little sweet. Everything else about it, texture, size, taste, etc are all excellent. I may add a little less sugar or substitute the sugar with something else. Maybe unsweetened apple sauce or something else with less sugar. I personally would up the chai spice, only because I really like the chai flavour and aroma!
Alternate tea choices:
While this is not in keeping with the tea theme, I’m wondering if using ground coffee or cocoa powder instead of the chai spice would lend itself to some interesting cookies? But, if we’re looking at purely alternate tea choices instead of chai, I would try matcha.
Notes:
* If you don’t have a chai spice mix at hand, make your own using the following recipe:
Take an empty spice container and add:
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 3 tsp ground ginger
Shake until well mixed and slap a label on it.
Pro tip: Put on lid before shaking!
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