Gingersnaps are best when dough is chilled 8 hours to allow flavors to develop, but dough can be chilled for just 2 hours or up to 3 days, if necessary.
Makes 12 servingsIngredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 large egg
- Confectioners sugar, cinnamon or nutmeg
Directions
To make the dough, whisk together flour, five spice powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Pulse ginger with ¼ cup sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Add molasses, butter, egg, and remaining ¾ cup sugar to the processor and blend until mixture is thick and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add flour mixture and pulse just until a dough forms. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 8 hours to allow flavors to develop.
When ready to bake, put the oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Quarter the dough, keeping the remaining 3 pieces wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled. Roll out 1 piece of dough on a lightly floured sheet of wax paper with a lightly floured rolling pin to ¾-inch thickness. (Note: If dough becomes too soft to roll out, chill on wax paper until firm.) Cut out rounds with a 1-inch cookie cutter and transfer to the lined baking sheet, arranging cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake until slightly puffed and a shade darker than the dough, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on the sheet, then transfer cookies (still on parchment) to a rack to cool completely. (Cookies will flatten slightly as they cool).
While the first batch is baking, roll out and cut another batch, arranging cookies on the second lined sheet. Bake in the same manner, then gather scraps and chill until dough is firm enough to reroll, 15 to 20 minutes. Make more cookies with scraps (reroll scraps only once) and remaining pieces of dough, cooling sheets and lining them with fresh parchment before using again. Once all cookies are cooled, sift confectioners sugar, cinnamon or nutmeg over the gingersnaps and enjoy!
Chef’s notes: Ground ginger (1/8 teaspoon) can be substituted for 1 tablespoon of crystalized ginger. Gingersnaps are best when dough is chilled 8 hours to allow flavors to develop, but dough can be chilled for just 2 hours or up to 3 days, if necessary. Five spice powder is available at conventional grocery stores.