David Lebovitz's No Fat Gingersnaps

I know what you're thinking. Gingersnaps in april?! No one eats gingersnaps in April! It's spring already, not winter!

But I do. Especially these no fat gingersnaps. They're soft and spicy, with the perfect sugary crust enveloping the gingery center.

I actually kept a container of already preshaped and sugar rolled dough in my freezer for when I had a cookie craving. The dough balls didn't hold their shape, and instead sort of oozed into a big mass with slightly proliferated edges. Although they didn't look as nice before I baked them, they still turned out great and tasted as good as they did when I first baked them!

Amazingly Soft Fat Free Gingersnaps
Adapted from David Lebovitz
Ingredients:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1/3 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoons ground dried ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg

Granulated sugar

Directions:
1. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the brown sugar, applesauce, and molasses
2. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.
3. After five minutes, stop the mixer, scrape down the sides, and add the egg. Beat another minute.
4. With the mixer at its lowest speed, add the dry ingredients until completely incorporated, and mix on medium for one minute more.
5. Roll tablespoons of dough in granulated sugar.
6. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
7. Bake for 10 minutes

Chewy Chewy Chewy

I used to hate ginger when I was younger, but now gingersnaps are one of my favorite cookies. I remember when my mom would buy chocolate covered ginger from See's Candy, and you know how they put all of the chocolate in one bag? Well, I would always get their toffee or chocolate covered caramel marshmallows, and I would reach in to the bag, pull out a candy, pop it in my mouth, and start chomping away. Imagine my surprise when I experienced an explosion of gingery spicyness. Yuck. It was awful, at least for a ten-year-old.

These cookies pack a punch of ginger, and too bad I didn't have any chocolate covered ginger because those probably would've made these cookies out of this world!

AH! So sorry everyone, turns out I forgot sugar....let me find my notes and I will get back to you guys on the recipe!

Chewy Gingersnaps

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon all spice

1 tablespoon yogurt or non dairy milk

1/4 cup oil

2 tablespoons molasses

1/2 cup chopped candied ginger or chocolate covered ginger (optional)

Directions:

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and all spice

2. In a separate bowl combine yogurt, oil, and molasses.  Mix in the flour. Add in ginger pieces.

3. Place rounded tablespoons of dough on a cookie sheet

4. Bake at 350˚F for 12 minutes

Vegan Blackstrap Molasses Cookies (repost)

Did you know some vegans wont eat honey? Some won't eat marshmallows either! I don't know how long I'd last as a vegan. Probably not that long. But it would give me an excuse to make these cookies!

These cookies are actually a repost from before. Some have had a little trouble achieving that "cracked" look, so I remade these cookies to see if I could find any tips to get that lovely surface. As I was making the dough I noticed it seemed quite oily, but don't worry. I think the oil helps give the cookies that "cracked" look. The cookies didn't have the cracked look when I checked halfway through the baking time, but were quite puffy looking. After 12 minutes, the cookies had flattened out and had the cracked look.

The cookies are slightly lighter than before, but that may have been due to my lack of blackstrap molasses and having to use normal molasses. But don't worry, the cookies still taste great. Plus, it still cracks even when you make mini cookies! So if you've had some trouble getting "the look", don't be afraid to try again!

Blackstrap Gingersnaps - Printer Friendly Version
Yield 2 dozen - Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
Ingredients: 
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
1/2 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons nondairy milk (normal milk also works, but then it's not vegan, right?)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350˚F
2. In a bowl mix sugar, molasses, oil, milk, and vanilla extract.
3. Mix in flours, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt
4. Place rounded tablespoons 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet
5. Flatten slightly and bake for 12 minutes
6. Enjoy!

Tips:
-Use the full amount of oil (I'll probably experiment with this a little later)
-Don't be alarmed if they don't flatten at first, it takes a little time

What better way to celebrate the end of finals?....

....Than with cookies? And spiced brown sugar star shaped cookies to be exact. Finals were stressful, and I still feel like I should be studying! But it also feels like a tremendous pressure has been lifted from my shoulders. Ah, such a relaxing feeling. :) Plus, my hands, and brain, are so grateful it's over. After writing practice essays for a couple hours, my hands seriously did not want to write another essay. I can't even believe I'm writing this! I feel like I should be vegging out in front of the tv. Oh wait, I already did for three hours!

Unbaked star cookies

I actually made these during winter break, but didn't get around to post them until now. Usually I don't like to make shaped cookies, but surprisingly the dough was easy to roll out and cut. The trick I found is to roll out the dough between plastic wrap, peel away one side, cut out the shapes, and then flip the cut out shapes on to a sheet of parchment paper. I wish I took an after picture of these cookies, but they were eaten too quickly! The dough didn't spread a lot, which meant they kept their shape. Hooray! It's so discouraging when prettily shaped cookies spread an turn in to a plain drop cookie.

Spiced Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies
From Annie's Eats
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp. allspice
½ cup sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
16 tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and spices in a medium bowl; whisk to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, brown sugar and butter.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the egg and vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Form the dough into a ball or disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.  Chill until firm, at least 30-60 minutes.
2. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.  On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness.  Use cookie cutters to form desired shapes and transfer to the prepared baking sheets.  Bake 10-12 minutes.  Let cool on the baking sheet a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Decorate as desired.

Winner of the Giveaway! and A Recipe for Molasses Spice Cookie

So first on the agenda is the winner of the giveaway. Did you know there aren't number on the sides of the comments? Well I didn't realize that, so good thing I didn't have to count very many because the lucky winner is... (picked using randomgenerator) ......drum roll please...:

Comment #7....Terri!

Congratulations Terri! I will be contacting you shortly so watch out for my email!! Thank you to everyone who participated! And I hope you all enjoy your holiday, and favorite dish of the season :)

Now, moving on to other important cookie matters. Look at these babies. They are packed with a delicious blend of spices to create a soft and chewy cookie perfect for giving away or eating all by yourself! As you can see they aren't covered in sugar...well oops. That's my bad, I meant to roll them in sugar. I even had the bowl full of sugar and everything. But uh, well I don't know I guess I had a brain fart or something. On a side note about my forgetfulness. Just yesterday I was making a batch of cookie, and I realized I forgot to put in 66% of the sugar! That's a not very sweet cookie! But anyways, these molasses spice cookies are delicious, and you should try them. But don't feel like I'm forcing you, cause I'm not. But really, they're really really good! :)

Don't they look mouthwatering? Maybe my photography isn't the best, but they do make your house smell amazing. It's like having a spice infused candle radiate from your oven!

Molasses Spice Cookies
Adapted from Flour
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Sugar for coating

Directions:
1. In a bowl beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg
3. Mix the flour mixture in to the butter mixture
4. Place dough in an airtight container in the fridge for at least 3 hours
5. Preheat oven to 350˚F
6. Coat rounded tablespoons of dough in sugar, and then place on a cookie sheet
7. Bake for 14 minutes or until slightly firm to the touch
8. Enjoy!

Blackstrap Gingersnaps..Vegan!!

Have you seen the book called Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar? Well it's this cookbook filled with tons of vegan cookie recipes! Can you believe that? All vegan! I didn't even know you could make so many vegan cookies! Now I'm not a vegan, but vegan cookies are usually really good. Like really, really good. Okay, maybe not as good as non-vegan cookies. Or maybe they are? hmm....Anyways, I was looking through the book and decided to make gingersnaps. I usually don't like using molasses because it's so hard to open that dang bottle, and measuring molasses is so hard (just like peanut butter...), but for some strange reason I was attracted to this recipe...hmm...Maybe I was craving ginger?

Aren't you craving some now too? I know you are! So how did these gingersnaps turn out? Well they were slightly crispy on the edges, and chewy in the middle. Plus they had that cracked look! And, I think it's as good as the non-vegan cookies. Shhh, don't tell!! :) How was the flavor you ask? Perfectly gingery and molasses-y!

Blackstrap Gingersnaps - Printer Friendly Version
Yield 2 dozen - Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
Ingredients: 
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
1/2 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons nondairy milk (I used normal milk...so not technically true vegan...)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350˚F
2. In a bowl mix sugar, molasses, oil, milk, and vanilla extract.
3. Mix in flours, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt
4. Place rounded tablespoons 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet
5. Flatten slightly and bake for 12 minutes
6. Enjoy!

Note: Some people have had problems getting the "cracked" look. If your cookies don't have the cracks, don't be alarmed, they still taste good! I'm currently working on the recipe to get the cracked look and I'll keep you guys posted. Sorry about that!

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Doesn't it look so elegant?

Close up!

With the glass now...