Lovin' From the Oven

Day 2: Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

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I almost forgot how hectic baking 12 days of cookies before Christmas is. Basically, I have to update about a cookie approximately every two days. That means I’m already off schedule! Oh, shoot. I’ve been busy catching good deals online and thinking about what gift I should get for the bf. Anyone have any good ideas of what to get a boy for Christmas? Help a girl out. 🙂

Day 2 of my twelve days of cookies: Oh, hey Martha Stewart. You have some great ideas for just about everything. I don’t know how you do it, but boy do I love it. This is only my fourth cookie that I’ve tried from the book by Martha Stewart, Cookies. They were everything that they were described to be.. chewy, chocolate-y, and gingerbread-y. They baked perfectly and held their shape. Personally, I’m not a fan of the taste of molasses so these cookies didn’t tickle my fancy. My boyfriend, on the other hand, rather enjoyed them and sneaked bites by every now and then. Molasses has a very distinct taste that is just too strong for me, so I’ll avoid it for now. Maybe it’s an acquired taste and I’ll eventually learn to love it….

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients

  • 7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
  • 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
  • 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.
  3. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons 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 inch thick; seal with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. Roll dough into 2-inch balls; place 2 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll dough balls in granulated sugar and return to baking sheets. Transfer to oven and bake until surfaces crack slightly, about 18 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Day 1: Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chunks

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Are you all ready for some serious cookie-mania? I feel like in the food blogging world, December is the prime month for cookies. Everyone loves doing the 12 days of cookies and since I did it last year, I’ll continue my tradition. From now til Christmas, I’ll blog about 12 different types of cookies. That way, you’ll have plenty to choose from when deciding what to bake for your Christmas baskets. 🙂

Day 1 of my 12 days of cookies: This recipe is from Baked. I found it on Food Gal’s blog and had to try it from her mouth-watering pictures. I’ve seen this recipe pop up on a few other websites, and it was always raved about. They were good if you were a peanut butter/chocolate lover. I just found out that I don’t really care for the combination…. and neither does my family/boyfriend’s family. Hmm.. Note to self: Don’t bake peanut butter cookies for a family event.

I found them a bit on the salty side and wish they would have been a bit fluffier instead of so flat. I even made sure to refrigerate mine for at least 3 hours! I would definitely try freezing the dough next time instead of just refrigerating, in hopes of a thicker cookie. Oh well.. they still tasted good! The recipe may seem a little lengthy, but I promise it’s not!

Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chunks (makes 24 cookies)

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
  • 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 6 ounces good milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
  1. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars together until fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. The mixture will look light and fluffy. Add vanilla and peanut butter and beat until just incorporated.
  3. Add half of the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add remaining flour mixture and mix until incorporated.
  4. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in chocolate. Cover bowl tightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
  5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. With palm of your hand, very gently press each cookie down so it forms a very tall disk shape. Do not press too hard and do not press it flat.
  7. Sprinkle tops of cookies with granulated sugar and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time, until tops of cookies just begin to brown.
  8. Remove pan from oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer individual cookies to the rack to cook completely (although they are also delicious warm).
  9. The cookies can be stored, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.

To recap last year’s list of my 12 days of cookies:

Texas Governor’s Mansion Cowboy Cookies

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As you may or may not know, every First Lady has a unique dessert recipe that they share with the public. At my work, we sell a book called Presidential Cookies. Each page gives a summary about every President and their First Lady, along with one or two of their favorite recipes. Fun, right? The only sucky part about the book is that the pictures included are terrible! No offense, but every picture is taken on the same plate– same scene– same ol’ dim lighting. I especially love cookbooks with great pictures of each recipe, so I wasn’t a fan of the visuals in this one.

It’s funny because you can tell how much the cookies have improved from the 1700’s. They start out with three ingredients and gradually increase as time goes on. I chose to try one a bit closer to our time period, one from Laura Bush. To be honest, a coworker baked them and brought them into work. They were so good that I had to bake some for myself. I opted to make them smaller rather than putting 1/4 cup of dough into each cookie. I also omitted the coconut, because I can always do without that. These cookies would be easy to sub some ingredients into depending on your liking.. Just take out one and replace with another! Try them for yourself!

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 2 cups sweetened flake coconut
  • 2 cups chopped pecans (8 ounces)

    • Directions

    Prep Time: 25 minutes
    Bake Time: 17 to 29 minutes
    Yield: About 3 dozen cookies (see note below)

    1. Heat oven to 350 F.
    2. Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in bowl.
    3. In 8-quart bowl, beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 1 minute. Gradually beat in sugars; beat to combine, 2 minutes.
    4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Beat in vanilla.
    5. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans.
    6. For each cookie, drop 1/4 cup dough onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart.
    7. Bake in 350 F oven 17 to 29 minutes, until edges are lightly browned; rotate sheets halfway through. Remove cookies from rack to cool.

    Note: For 6 dozen small cookies, use 2 tablespoons dough for each. Bake at 350 F for 15 to 18 minutes.

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