CHOCOLATE-DIPPED GINGER COOKIES

Chocolate and ginger are so synergistic.  Taken separately, they’re great.  But taken together, they’re over-the-top great.   I like to add some whole wheat flour to ginger cookies, giving them a bit of a nutrition boost and a little more depth of flavor, but you can use all refined white flour if you prefer. 

This cookie is one of my all-time favorites, and it may become one of yours.  The spices seem just about perfectly balanced to me, and the soft, slightly chewy texture is everything you want in a ginger cookie.  Give them a try and see if you don’t agree that chocolate and ginger were made for each other.

Chocolate-Dipped Ginger Cookies Adapted from McCall’s Cookie Collection Rating:  10 out of 10 Click for PRINTABLE PAGE

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 1 cup white whole wheat flour 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. powdered cloves 1-1/4 tsp. powdered ginger 1/8 tsp. black pepper 1/4 tsp. Diamond kosher salt 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla powder or vanilla extract 1/4 cup Crisco vegetable shortening, room temperature 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1-1/2 cups sugar (I used 3/4 cup sugar + 3 Tbsp. NuNaturals stevia) 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger 1/4 cup molasses 1 large egg 10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, preferably 60% cacao or higher In medium bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, spices, pepper, salt and vanilla powder (if using.  If using extract, add with liquids).  In bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer, using paddle attachment, cream shortening and butter on medium speed till well combined and smooth, about 2 minutes.  Gradually add sugar, creaming till light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Blend in fresh ginger, molasses and egg on medium speed.  On low speed, mix in flour mixture just till combined.  Refrigerate overnight to develop flavors and firm dough. Heat oven to 375F.  Line baking sheets with greased parchment paper.  Shape dough in 1-1/4” balls and place 2-1/2” apart on prepared pan.  Bake 7-8 minutes, or till golden brown but still soft in centers.  Cool in pan 4-5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.  Melt 10 oz. good-quality chocolate (bittersweet with a high cacao count is best, but you could also do white chocolate or a half batch of dark and white).  You can melt chocolate in a microwave by zapping on high and stirring at 30-second intervals, but I like to put the chocolate in a bowl that sits over hot, not boiling, water, stirring till it’s melted.  Dip end of cookies in melted chocolate.   Place cookies on waxed paper till chocolate hardens.  This may take several hours.  You can speed up the process by initially setting the waxed paper on a baking sheet.  After you’ve dipped the cookies and filled the waxed paper up, just transfer it to the freezer for about 30 minutes. Try not to eat too many right away.  You’re saving these for Christmas, right?  When the chocolate is hardened, place the cookies in a plastic container, separating each row with waxed paper.  Freeze till needed and try to forget they’re in there.  (I’ve been known to take them out of the freezer and eat them without thawing.  They don’t freeze rock hard and they’re quite good like this.) Yield:  46-50 cookies Today’s post is for week 9 of 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats, hosted by Brenda Thompson.  Her blog is Meal Planning Magic.  Be sure and check out all of the fabulous treats the other participants came up with this week.  And, if you would like to join the hop and add your own Christmas treat recipes, just contact Brenda for details.

CHEWY CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD COOKIES

In December of 2009, I made a scaled-down version of the Four Seasons Hotel Chocolate Ginger Cookies, thanks to Kristin of the Schell Cafe blog who was able to track down the chef and get the recipe.  She then worked it down to a sizeable batch for home cooks.  The cookies are amazing – crispy edges with chocolaty chewy centers that have a nice zing from the ginger. 

Today’s cookie is from Martha Stewart.  After I made them and compared her recipe with the Four Seasons Hotel’s cookie, I realized that they were the same.  Martha cut the recipe in half,  switched the chocolate chips to chunks and added some freshly grated ginger, but everything else is identical.  This makes me wonder how many TV and internet chefs are taking recipes from bloggers without giving proper credit. 

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies Source:  Martha Stewart??? Rating:  9.0 out of 10 Click for PRINTABLE PAGE

INGREDIENTS: 7 oz. best-quality semisweet chocolate 1-1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour 1-1/4 tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. ground cloves 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder 8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter 1 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 cup granulated sugar (I used sanding sugar.) Line baking sheets with parchment.  Chop chocolate into 1/4” chunks; set aside.  In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cocoa. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes.  Add brown sugar, beat until combined.  Add molasses; beat until combined. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in –1-1/2 tsp. 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” thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more. Heat oven to 325F.  Roll dough into 1-1/2” balls; place 2” apart on baking sheets.  Refrigerate 20 minutes.  Roll in granulated sugar.  Bake until surfaces crack slightly, 10-12 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes on pans; transfer to wire rack to cool completely.  Yield:  about 2 dozen

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL CHOCOLATE GINGER COOKIES

This cookie has made the rounds in the blogosphere lately, so I jumped on the bandwagon. The key to success is to underbake the cookie, resulting in the most amazing texture and flavor – the molasses and chocolate marry and become one, producing a decadently chewy chocolate-molasses flavor in every bite. Of course, you must use the very best chocolate you can afford.

These cookies are definitely worth making, but I will warn you: they are rich, sweet and very chocolatey. They are not a cookie that I will make again, because they are too sweet for my taste, but I have given them to friends who have swooned over them. Truth be told, while I was test-tasting some, I admit to swooning, too. They are that good.

Thanks to Kristin, of The Schell Cafe blog, for procuring this recipe. She actually hunted down the pastry chef at the Four Seasons Hotel, who gave her the recipe. Of course, it made huge quantities, so Kristin worked this recipe till she got the right ratios and was able to reduce it down to a manageable size for home cooks.

Four Seasons Hotel Chocolate Ginger Cookies Source: The Schell Cafe Rating: 9 out of 10 PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS: 12 oz. chocolate chips (I used Hershey’s Special Dark + Nestle Chocolatier Dark Chocolate Morsels, 53% cacao) 3 cups + 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour (Pillsbury unbleached) 2-1/2 tsp. ground ginger 2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground cloves 1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg 2 Tbsp. natural cocoa powder 2 tsp. baking soda 2 Tbsp. crystallized ginger, finely chopped 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature (If using unsalted butter, add 1/8 tsp. salt) 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup molasses bowl of granulated sugar for dusting + some coarse sanding sugar for tops Whisk together first 9 ingredients in large bowl. Cream butter and brown sugar in another large bowl until light and fluffy. Slowly add molasses, scraping well after each addition. Gradually add dry ingredients and mix only till combined. Cover bowl and refrigerate overnight for best results. Heat oven to 350F. Using rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, roll in wet palms to form balls. Roll balls in sugar to coat. (If using sanding sugar for tops, then roll part of the ball in sanding sugar and place, sanding sugar up, on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake till puffy and just starting to crack. A toothpick inserted in center will return with some, but not too much, dough sticking to pick. These cookies are best when slightly underbaked and will continue to cook as they cool. My cooking time was approximately 9-10 minutes. Cookies deflate as they cool, also, and are supposed to be thin with a slightly crunchy, crispy edge and soft chewy insides. Yield: about 52 cookies

Merry Christmas, everyone! Thanks for stopping by.

TRIPLE-GINGER COOKIES

Bon Appetit is a dependable source for good recipes, and this ginger cookie is quite good. Crispy edges, soft chewy insides and bursting with spicy ginger flavor, it will have you coming back for seconds….and thirds….and more. A combo of ground, crystallized and fresh ginger, along with brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon and cloves produces the intense flavor and pleasing texture of this outstanding cookie. Full disclosure: You’re going to have to be a real ginger lover to appreciate this cookie, because ginger is the dominant flavor here, and it’s strong.

The recipe calls for two kinds of brown sugar: golden and dark. I only had light brown sugar in my pantry, and that’s what I used, without detriment. If ginger is your thing, then this is your cookie.

Triple-Ginger Cookies Source: Bon Appetit Magazine, December 2009 Rating: 8 out of 10 PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS: 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup minced crystallized ginger 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar 1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar 1 large egg, room temperature 1/4 cup light (mild-flavored) molasses 1-1/2 tsp. finely grated fresh peeled ginger 1-1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground cloves approx. 1/3 cup sugar for rolling Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, crystallized ginger, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamy and light, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in both brown sugars. Beat on medium high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, molasses, fresh ginger, ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Beat to blend. Add flour mixture in 2 additions, beating on low speed just to blend between additions. Place 1/3 cup sugar in small bowl. Measure 1 Tbsp. dough. Roll into ball between palms of wet hands, then roll in sugar in bowl to coat; place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, spacing cookies 2-1/2 to 3” apart to allow for spreading. Bake cookies until surfaces crack but cookies are soft in center, about 13 minutes. (Use a toothpick test to ensure cookies are set -- toothpick should have some dough on it.) Cool completely on baking pans set on wire rack before removing. Yield: about 40 (3") cookies.

MELISSA’S VANILLA-GINGER COOKIES

These are not your standard spicy ginger cookies. There’s no brown sugar or molasses, nor is there a consortium of spices. They’re really a deliciously tender vanilla-ginger flavored butter cookie, with crispy edges and soft chewy centers. And believe me, they are addictive. If you don’t have vanilla powder, just use vanilla extract in the same amount.

I love the vanilla-ginger combo in this cookie. My one disappointment, though, is that it’s very bland looking. I recommend sprucing up the tops in some way. Use coarse sanding sugar, sprinkles, or even white or dark chocolate drizzles to make them look more appealing. I took the easy way out, just heating up some cream cheese frosting and spreading it onto the tops of the cookies, then sprinkling some with red shots and some with crushed toasted walnuts.

Mellissa’s Vanilla-Ginger Cookies Source: www.melissas.com Rating: 9.0 out of 10 PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS: 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 1 cup white sugar 1/2 tsp. sea salt 2 eggs 2 Tbsp. vanilla powder (or vanilla extract) 2 Tbsp. fresh ginger root, grated 2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 3 oz. crystallized ginger (1 bag of Melissa’s crystallized ginger, in the produce section), chopped into 1/4” pieces Heat oven to 375F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together butter, sugar and salt until creamy. Add eggs; mix well. Add vanilla and ginger root; mix well. Add flour and crystallized ginger; mix until combined. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet, 2” apart. Flatten balls to 1/4” thick and bake 10-11 minutes, or till just set and beginning to brown. (These are best a little underdone.) Yield: approximately 30 cookies

$2500 BH&G HOLIDAY WINNER – SANTA’S SPICY GINGERSNAPPERS

This cookie was last year’s holiday prizewinner in BH&G’s contest. After making it, I can see why it won. It’s softly chewy inside, with just the slightest crunch on the outside. The topping (of raisins and pecans) accentuates the additional raisins and pecans on the inside of the cookie. Although the cookie contains orange zest, I couldn’t really taste it. So you can either leave it out or up the amount. Honestly, I don’t think you even need it. And the orange juice in the glaze is also undetectable, so feel free to sub milk, cream or water. Actually, some melted cream cheese icing works very nicely too. The title of the cookie says it’s spicy, but the spice works as an undertone. If you want a really spicy cookie, you’d better up the spices. I liked it just like it was. All in all, this is a cookie worth making. You’ll have trouble staying away from them, because they’re just that good. I made a half batch (17 cookies), but I’m printing the full recipe for you because I think you’ll want all of them.

Santa’s Spicy Gingersnappers Source: Better Homes and Gardens Rating: 10 out of 10 PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup raisins 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 2 cups packed brown sugar 2 eggs 1 Tbsp. chopped crystallized ginger (Increase if you want a spicier cookie) 1 tsp. finely shredded orange peel 1 tsp. vanilla 3-2/3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (Increase if you want a spicier cookie) 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg (Increase if you want a spicier cookie) 1/4 tsp. ground ginger (Increase if you want a spicier cookie) 1/4 tsp. salt 1 recipe Pecan Topping, below 1 recipe Orange Glaze, below 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Place raisins and butter in food processor; process until raisins are chopped and combined with butter. Transfer mixture to extra-large bowl. With electric mixer, beat in brown sugar, eggs, crystallized ginger, orange peel and vanilla until creamy. 2. In medium bowl, combine flour, pecans, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder,nutmeg, ginger and salt. Gradually beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Mix until well combined. 3. With a 2-Tbsp. cookie scoop, drop dough 4” apart on ungreased cookie sheet. (Note: I used a rounded Tbsp. of dough and lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper.) Flatten tops lightly. Spoon about 1 tsp. pecan topping onto center of each unbaked cookie. 4. Bake 11-13 minutes, until edges are just set. (Note: cookies will be soft and look undone, but they harden as they cool.) Let cool on pan for 2 minutes; transfer cookies to cooling rack. Cool completely. 5. Drizzle cooled cookies with Orange Glaze. Yield: 3 dozen large cookies. (My yield was 34.) Pecan Topping: In small bowl, combine 1/2 cup chopped raisins, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 3 Tbsp. dairy sour cream and 2 Tbsp. caramel topping. (Note: I used 3 Tbsp. cream cheese + 2 Tbsp. Kraft caramel bits.) Orange Glaze: In small bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp. orange juice. (Or just microwave some cream cheese or butter cream frosting till melted.)

GINGER SNAPS

A time-honored favorite for generations, the simple ginger snap cookie is a crowd pleaser. Serve them with ice cream, crumble them for parfaits, add them to sauerbraten gravy, or just eat them as is. Their spicy sweetness is a delight, especially around holiday time when everyone thinks about gingerbread and spice any way. Here is an easy recipe from Alice Waters' cookbook, "The Art of Simple Food." I've adapted the recipe to make a small quarter batch -- nineteen 2" cookies -- but you can double the amounts to get roughly 3 dozen, or quadruple to get roughly 6 dozen . If you follow the directions, you'll get a cookie that snaps and is quite delicious.

Ginger Snaps

Adapted Quarter Batch from "The Art of Simple Food", Alice Waters

Rating: 9 out of 10

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
scant 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. sea salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 Tbsp. butter
scant 1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. egg
1/8 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. molasses

Combine first seven ingredients in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, by hand, beat the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and molasses till smooth. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring with a spatula till smooth and well mixed. Form dough into a 2" diameter log and roll on a lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; roll on countertop till smooth. Refrigerate or freeze till firm.
When ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 350F; line baking sheets with parchment. Slice dough into 1/4" rounds with sharp knife. Dip 1 side in sugar (course or regular) and place sugar side up on baking sheet, evenly spaced apart. Leave about 2" between cookies. Bake 7-8 minutes, till completely done for snappy cookies. Or underbake them for softer cookies. Cool 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack to finish cooling. Best eaten the day they are baked.

JUDY'S CRANBERRY GINGER CHAI LATTE COOKIES

Inspired by Alison's chewy chai meringue cookies (see my previous post), I set out to get more of that wonderful Chai spice flavor, this time in a sugar cookie. I took a basic sugar cookie recipe and added tea and Chai spices, along with dried cranberries, chopped crystallized ginger and toasted ground pecans. Some of them I rolled in a Chai spice/sugar mixture before baking, and others I glazed with a milky glaze. I am hooked on Chai, although I've never had a Chai Latte -- I don't frequent Starbucks, and I don't buy the powdery drink mixes, so I'm late to the party on Chai, but I'm catching up fast. These cookies are great and pretty easy to make. There's nothing fussy about them; they're not beauties to look at, but they're winners on taste. This recipe gave me 52 cookies.

Judy's Cranberry Ginger Chai Latte Cookies

INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 black tea bag (I used Harris Teeter Traders Decaffeinated English
Breakfast tea)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioner's 10X sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned and swept
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup toasted ground pecans

Sugar coating: 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger, pinch cloves

Milk Glaze: 2 Tbsp. butter, 2 Tbsp. condensed milk,1/2 cup 10X sugar,
2 Tbsp. heavy cream

DIRECTIONS: Combine 1/2 cup sugar and the contents of one black tea bag in a food processor or mini chopper and pulse till tea leaves are ground fine. In large bowl, combine butter, tea sugar and 10X sugar and beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and spices. Beat until flour is dispersed, then add remaining ingredients and mix till dough forms a ball. (My dough did not form a ball; if yours does not, don't overbeat it because it won't make it form a ball. It'll be ok, just a little sticky.) Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1/2 hour or up to 3 days.

When ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 375 F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough from fridge about 1/2 hour before you are ready, so dough has time to soften (exception: if you just put the dough in 1/2 hour ago, skip that part, and just remove the dough and start working on it.) You can shape the dough into 1" balls if desired. I just roughly formed the dough into discs. You can dip them in the spice-sugar mixture before baking if you want, or you can just bake them as is, it's up to you; they're good both ways. Place the dough 2" apart on the cookie sheets. Bake 7-11 minutes, or till toothpick inserted in centers return clean. (The amount of baking time really depends on a lot of things: how your oven runs; what kind of baking sheet you're using; how many cookies you have on a sheet.) These cookies don't brown, so watch them and test them for doneness. I had 18 cookies to an 11 x 17 sheet, and they took about 11 minutes. They're very tender and delicate with a wonderful flavor from the tea and spices.

If you want to take them over the top, glaze them: Combine butter, milk and cream in small microwaveable bowl and heat on high till butter melts, about 45 seconds. Stir in 10X sugar until smooth. If necessary, microwave again till mixture is thin enough to drizzle. With a spoon, drizzle over warm cookies.

Below, you can see I didn't fuss with the shapes -- these were just rough discs. It's all about the flavor with these cookies. I really hope you'll try them. And please leave me a comment if you do. I love hearing from you.

COUSIN HELEN HEAVENRICH'S LEMON GINGER COOKIES, adapted

I'm on a quest to find the best ginger-spice cookies, and I may have lucked out on my first try. The recipe I used is from Family Circle magazine, 7/20/82, and the article is entitled, "Best Cookies from the Best Bakeries." I have no idea who cousin Helen Heavenrich is, but I assume she could be someone who lived c.1732 or thereabouts. This is supposedly a 250-year-old recipe from Vermont, and Nashotah Ovens Bakery outside of Milwaukee was baking them at the time the article was written. (The only problem I have with the 250-year old concept, is that white flour and white sugar were not "invented" then, and the cookie would have been totally different, but nevermind, it makes a good story if you don't dig too deeply.) I made a few changes to the recipe which I have noted below. One of the changes was to experiment with the flours. I was spurred on by the Jacques Torres Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe wherein they mixed bread flour with pastry flour. So I mixed unbleached all-purpose flour with White Lily AP (which is really a pastry flour that is bleached) and a little bread flour (you can use a plain unbleached all-purpose flour like Pillsbury's if you don't want to mess with 3 flours). Since I have not made the recipe with the all-purpose flour that is called for, I can't compare. But I can say that the texture of the cookies is great. The spices are nice; you can definitely taste the ginger, and the lemon flavor comes through nicely also. By underbaking them just a tad, they are soft and very slightly chewy--just enough to make them interesting, not enough to break your teeth. The cookies are crinkled when done, which is a nice effect, and some of the sugar that you roll them in is visible on the tops. This recipe is a keeper and makes up very quickly. I did chill the dough even though the recipe did not call for it, and it made the rolling a little easier. * also put the dough back in the fridge in between baking sheets. Here's the recipe and don't forget to let me know if you try it and how it turns out for you.

Cousin Helen Heavenrich's Lemon Ginger Cookies, adapted
INGREDIENTS: 2-1/2 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour (measure the flour, then sift it) 2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt (I used sea salt)
3 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (I used white sugar)
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses (I used Grandma's original)
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
1/4 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS: Sift dry ingredients into medium sized bowl and whisk together to combine. Beat butter with sugar and egg in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and lemon rind until well blended. Stir in dry ingredients, half at a time, blending well after each addition. This will make a soft dough. (At this point, I refrigerated the dough for about 1/2 hour to firm it up, but the recipe does not call for this step.)

When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll dough, one level tablespoon at a time, between palms of hands, into balls; roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. (I used a measuring spoon -- tablespoon size -- it's rounded in shape -- see photo above. With my fingers, I leveled the dough, then removed the leveled amount and rolled it in my hands, then in sugar.)

Bake for about 10 minutes. Cookies will be soft in the center. Do not overbake. (I used the toothpick test and took the cookies out when there was just a little piece of dough clinging to the pick -- it was 10 minutes for me.) Let cookies cool in pan for 3-5 minutes, then with spatula place them on a cooling rack to finish cooling. Store in covered containers at room temperature, or freeze. Yield: 4 dozen cookies (I got 53 cookies.)

11/13/07 P. S. Here's an e-mail I received from Hollis Heavenrich-Jones today: "Hello Judy- I stumbled upon your Website through an Internet search I was doing, and was amused by your write up of Helen Heavenrich’s ginger cookies. Helen was indeed a real person, and she actually baked the lemon ginger cookies, although she didn’t live in 1732 – not by a long shot. Helen’s husband Sam was my father’s first cousin. Sam was the oldest of 13 first cousins and my dad was the youngest. Sam and Helen lived a fascinating life traveling all over the world during their younger years. They never really settled in one place, and never stayed in one country/area longer than about five years. But they owned a 200-year-old farmhouse in Vermont, and always made their way back there. The house had been in Helen’s family for generations. When we (my four siblings and I) met Sam and Helen, they were in their late 70’s, and had finally settled in Vermont. (They also lived in Florida during the winter.) Because Sam and Helen had no children of their own, they sort of adopted me and my siblings as their grandchildren. We used to visit them in the summers and they would regale us with stories of their many and interesting adventures. (In 1952, Sam was a judge for the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant.) In addition to the lemon ginger cookies, one of Helen’s favorite recipes was for popovers. She made them every morning for breakfast. Fast forward a few years to when my mom, a cooking instructor in Milwaukee, opened a cookie factory called Jill Heavenrich’s Nashota Ovens Bakery. My mom decided to see if she could adapt Helen’s recipe for mass production, and it was one of their biggest hits. My mom couldn’t have been more surprised when Family Circle called and told her the lemon ginger cookies had been selected as one of their best cookies. Everyone in my family was so sad when Sam Heavenrich died about 10 years ago at the age of 93. Helen followed within about 2 years at the age of 92. They were an amazing couple who left us with a wonderful legacy. Sorry if I’ve prattled on. But stumbling across your site really brought back some memories. Thanks! And best regards, Hollis Heavenrich-Jones"