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Make Ahead

My Ginger Cookies

by:
September 25, 2015
5
13 Ratings
Photo by Bobbi Lin
  • Makes fifty-six 2 1/4-inch cookies
Author Notes

Adapted from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies
(Artisan, 2010) —Alice Medrich

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Ingredients
  • 2 1/4 cups (285 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and just warm
  • 1/4 cup (85 grams) unsulphured mild or full-flavored molasses (not blackstrap)
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
  • 1/3 cup (66 grams) firmly packed brown sugar or light muscovado sugar
  • 2 tablespoons finely minced or grated fresh ginger root
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup (113 grams) ginger chips or crystallized ginger, cut into 1⁄4-inch dice, shaken in a coarse strainer to remove loose sugar
  • About 1/2 cup (100 grams) Demerara or turbinado or granulated sugar for rolling
Directions
  1. If you are baking the cookies right away, position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Set aside.
  3. Combine the warm butter, molasses, both sugars, fresh ginger, and the egg in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the flour mixture and ginger chips and stir until incorporated. The dough will be soft. If possible, cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or (better still) overnight, for the best flavor and texture.
  4. Form the dough into 1-inch balls (15 grams of dough for each). Roll balls in the Demerara sugar and place them 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake, rotating the sheets from back to front and top to bottom about halfway through the baking, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they puff up and crack on the surface and then begin to deflate in the oven. For chewier cookies, remove them from the oven when at least half or more of the cookies have begun to deflate; for crunchier edges with chewy centers, bake a minute or so longer.
  5. Set the pans or just the parchment liners on cooling racks. Cool the cookies completely before storing. Cookies keep for several days in an airtight container.
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My career was sparked by a single bite of a chocolate truffle, made by my Paris landlady in 1972. I returned home to open this country’s first chocolate bakery and dessert shop, Cocolat, and I am often “blamed” for introducing chocolate truffles to America. Today I am the James Beard Foundation and IACP award-winning author of ten cookbooks, teach a chocolate dessert class on Craftsy.com, and work with some of the world’s best chocolate companies. In 2018, I won the IACP Award for Best Food-Focused Column (this one!).

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18 Reviews

Write a Review
Leslie December 23, 2022
Just put the dough together but was concerned because the recipe said the dough will be soft and best to refrigerate for a few hours first. My dough was solid enough to roll into a large ball and not sticky at all. This made me question the flour amount so checked the reviews. There was one concern over flour quantity. Is 2 1/4 cup correct or not?
Kate December 16, 2023
I found the same thing with my dough, but they turned out as expected (same cooking times and indicators) regardless
Kellia B. December 23, 2021
Yum! Loved the 3 different types of ginger, the crystallized made all the difference - make sure not to skip it. I used blackstrap molasses since that’s what I had and thought they were still superb.
Aditi May 19, 2020
I made them, and they tasted great. I did make a few changes due to lack of ingredients and just because: used date syrup instead of molasses, used half whole wheat flour, left out the crystallized ginger, and added 1/4 tsp each of clove and white pepper powder. I thought I made 1-inch balls, but got about 25 cookies. I baked them for 12+ minutes, but none of them seemed to deflate, so I wasn't sure if they were done or if I was overbaking them. They turned out very soft, so probably next time I will bake them for a few more minutes longer.
latkelet May 4, 2020
These were fantastic! Restricted to my quarantine pantry, I replaced the flour amount with 80/20 split of a gluten-free all-purpose blend and buckwheat flour; vegan baking stick for the butter, substituted blackstrap molasses mixed with corn syrup, and used turbinado instead of granulated sugar. I rolled half the dough balls in more turbinado, half in more ground ginger. Loved them. Alice Medrich has an amazing palate.
judy October 7, 2018
I generally use blackstrap molasses or sorghum. And will double the ginger as well as put in chopped chrystalized ginger. I am a ginger fan, and I like my molasses bold. But the base seems to be pretty good.
Karen October 14, 2015
Does anyone know whether this recipe can be halved?
Meg P. January 1, 2017
Yes. Cut it in half. 1/8c=2T. Try using just an egg yolk instead of the whole egg.
deb E. October 9, 2015
All I can find is blackstrap molasses? Is this ok?
Barb168 November 21, 2015
Blackstrap has a very strong flavor, so I think you might not like it.
mstv October 1, 2015
I made these with the 2 1/4 cups of flour and 1/4 cup molasses and they were great! Delicious ginger flavor. I have a similar recipe that is more of a ginger molasses spice cookie. This is more of a ginger cookie. Will definitely make again. I didn't follow the guideline of 15 grams per cookie dough ball - I thought the 1 inch cookie dough balls were more like 28-30 grams.
Beth100 October 1, 2015
Perhaps someone with the printed cookbook could check if it's supposed to be 1 or 1 1/4 cups of flour?
Karen K. September 29, 2015
But the recipe Dona found on the website calls for only 2 cups flour. It must be a different recipe?
April T. September 28, 2015
Thank you so much Dona!
Dona September 28, 2015
I found this recipe on Alice Medrich's website. I calls for 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses.


Ingredients
2 cups (9 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
¼ cup unsulfured mild or full-flavored molasses (not Blackstrap)
½ cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (2.33 ounces) packed brown sugar or light muscovado sugar
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger
1 large egg
¾ cup (4 ounces) ginger chips or crystallized ginger, cut into ¼ -inch dice
About ½ cup (3.5 ounces) Demerara or turbinado sugar or ¼ cup (1.75 ounces) granulated sugar for rolling
April T. September 28, 2015
Looks delish, but how much molasses is required please?
Sarah J. September 30, 2015
Sorry about that! It's 1/4 cup (85 grams) unsulphured mild or full-flavored molasses (not blackstrap). The recipe has been updated!
Marianne E. September 27, 2015
Molasses not listed in ingredients list.