Ginger Snaps
Starters, sides and snacks,  Sweet tooth

Ginger Snaps

During these cold winter months all of us crave hot coffee or tea along with some home made snacks/cookies. These ginger snaps are perfect for such cravings. Aromatic, mildly sweet and crunchy, these freshly baked cookies are great for festive occasions too. It takes less than an hour to make these ginger snaps. I’ve purposely kept the cookies simple without any toppings to reduce the time taken to prepare and to avoid the extra calories. You can always improvise by adding some sugar glaze or frosting to these cookies.  

This Christmas, go ahead and bake a sizeable quantity, because they’re irresistible and you cannot stop with just one or two!

Ingredients

All purpose flour – 1 cup

Whole wheat flour – 1 cup

Brown Sugar – 2/3 cup

Fresh ginger (minced) – 3 tbsp (50 g)

Unsalted butter (at room temperature) – 3/4 cup

Bicarbonate of soda – 1/2 tsp

Honey – 2 tbsp

Pepper powder – 1 pinch

Cardamom powder – 1 pinch

Salt – 1 pinch

Clove powder – 1 pinch

Cinnamon powder – 1/4 tsp

Yield
~45 pieces

Prep time
20 mins

Cook time
~20 mins for each batch

Method

1)   Preheat the oven to 175ºC and line a parchment paper in a baking tray.

2)   Sift together (twice) flour, bicarbonate of soda, all the spices and salt. This helps to fluff up the flour and mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly. Set aside.

3)   Peel the ginger and grind to a smooth paste with the honey.

4)   Cream together butter, sugar and ginger-honey paste until combined nicely. Continue blending until light and fluffy.

5)   Now add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and blend roughly (don’t over mix at this stage).

6)   With a flat spoon, using cut and fold method, gently bring the dough together. Now with your hand scrape the sides properly and mix the dough very gently one last time.

7)   Take equal portions of the dough and make smooth balls (roll between your palms gently without putting pressure). Place the rolled ginger snaps dough on the lined baking tray, leaving enough gap between each of them (the cookies will expand while baking).

8)   Now gently press down each ginger snap with the flat bottom of a cup/glass. Sprinkle some sugar on top of them for some added sweetness and great look.

9)   Place the baking tray in the preheated oven and bake at 175°C for 18 to 20 mins.

10)   After around 20 mins, the ginger snaps will turn golden. Remove the tray from the oven. Rest the ginger snaps for at least 5 mins. After 5 mins gently lift them from the parchment paper and place on a wire rack to cool down completely.

11)   Serve your ginger snaps with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee/tea.

12)   Store the ginger snaps in an airtight container. Stays fresh for nearly 2 weeks.

Notes

  1. Always place the baking tray in the middle rack of the oven for even baking.
  2. I’ve used a combination of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. The same recipe can be made with either of the flours too. The texture of the cookies will differ slightly in each of the variation.
  3. I’ve used a combination of freshly ground spices according to my preference. Keeping the ginger and cinnamon powder constant, you can choose to add or omit any of the other spices given in the recipe.
  4. Freshly ground ginger adds more taste and has an unbeatable aroma compared to store bought ginger paste. For a stronger flavour, you can add 1/2 tsp of dry ginger powder too.
  5. Adding a small quantity of honey along with brown sugar gives the snappy, crunchy texture to this cookie.
  6. Avoid mixing the dough vigorously, and do not put pressure while shaping the ginger snaps. Excessive mixing with pressure will release the gluten from the flour and make the cookies hard.
  7. Immediately after removing the ginger snaps from the oven it will be slightly soft to the touch. But, as it cools down, the texture will improve and become crunchy. So don’t wait for the cookies to become crisp in the oven itself, it might burn them.

8 Comments

  • MotherOfNOMS

    Hi Cody,

    Thank You! Happy your in laws are going to try this recipe in their bakery. Hope they like these delicious ginger snaps.

    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 🙂

  • MotherOfNOMS

    Hi Jeannie,

    If you love spices, I’m sure you’ll love these spiced ginger snaps.

    To answer your question, yes, these cookies can be made with 2 cups of whole wheat flour too. It will be slightly more grainy and crunchy with whole wheat flour. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 🙂

  • Jeannie

    would love to make another ginger cookies. I love spices. Question will it work if I use 2 cups whole wheat flour?

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