Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Cookie Time!

Well, thanks to our GAL's Saturday post about marshmallows and Rice Krispie treats, I found myself making a run to the store for marshmallows and Rice Krispies. Talk about a craving. Man, those things are comfort food to the max. And I enjoyed every last bite. Thanks for the reminder (and the pic), Julie. :)

But that wasn't the only baking I did. Although, I guess you can't really call Rice Krispie Treats baking, since there's no baking involved. Cookies, though...now that's definitely baking.

You know, long ago and far, far away, when I was still in high school, I received my very first cookbook. This thing has traveled all over the world with me, from Michigan to Texas to Germany to South Dakota to Iceland and back to Texas. It's been my constant companion and, at times, a distant memory. Yet for all the outlets of cooking tips and recipes, this old gal is still my go-to when I'm looking for a good recipe.

Over the years, I've probably gone through this book a thousand times, searching for something new. So imagine my surprise when I was looking through it for one recipe and found another that I'd never seen before. One that's even in the1950 Betty Crocker Cookbook.

As you know, I love the flavors of fall. The cinnamon and cloves, the ginger and nutmeg. Which is probably why this recipe stood out to me. It has all of the aforementioned spices. Whoo-hoo! Talk about hog heaven.

To make these wonderful Ginger Creams, you will need:
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1/3 cup shortening
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon




The recipe says to mix the sugar, water, molasses, shortening, and egg. So I did everything in that order. Yeah, I was able to make it work, however, I recommend mixing the sugar and the shortening first, then the molasses, egg and water, because adding the water first made it too difficult for the shortening to incorporate without beating the hooey out of it. Which I did.

Now stir in your remaining ingredients.
See how nice and creamy it looks. Smells wonderful too.
 
Scrap (or lick, whatever your preference) the thin dough from the beater, then cover and refrigerate for one hour. I covered mine with plastic wrap, smoothing it over the top of the dough.
 
Once the dough is ready, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and uncover the dough.
Now this is where I took a little detour from the recipe. Not on purpose though. 
You see, the recipe says to drop dough by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto an ungreased baking sheet. Well, I would have sworn it said tablespoonfuls.
 
So needless to say, I ended up with much less than the 4 dozen cookies the recipe said it would make.
And that wasn't the only problem.
The recipe said to bake until almost no indentation remains when touched, about 8 minutes. Well, my larger-than-called-for cookies still had indentations at 8 minutes. So I baked them a little longer.
 
Immediately remove from cookie sheet and cool.
 
While my cookies turned out thicker with a cake-like texture, they were still good. But here's what I suspect would have happened had I followed the recipe correctly. I think they would have been flatter and much crisper. Kind of like those really thin Swedish gingersnaps you buy in the tin at Christmastime (love those things with tea). The flavor was almost a match for the gingersnaps.
Then again, the recipe is called Ginger CREAMS. Maybe they're supposed to have a creamier texture.
 
Ah, who knows? Ruthy? Jan?
 
They were still yummy and still got eaten. Hey, that has to count for something, right?
 
Will I make them again?
 
You betcha. Except next time I'll get it right.

33 comments:

  1. Oh. These are my very favorite cookie in the whole wide world...I have my own beat up BC cookbook...I haven't seen the recipe in many other places. The cake-like texture is absolutely correct. But, I think they are called Ginger Creams because of the buttercream frosting. Did they get frosted or did they stay naked?

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    1. I have one, too!

      And lol on the naked cookies.

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    2. Frosting? No, these poor little over-sized things were plum naked, Piper. But that would make them absolutely amazing. Though I'm thinking maybe a cream cheese frosting. What do you think?

      So I got the texture right, eh? Excellent. If they were the correct size, though, add a little frosting and they would be AMAZING!

      Thanks, Piper!

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    3. Virginia, where would we be without Betty?

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    4. You are welcome, Mindy. And I think I've said before that my birthday cake every year is spice cake with buttercream frosting--my pitiful attempt to just hang on a few more months until the Christmas Ginger Creams. If you are in a cookie exchange, these can go very festive for Christmas with red and green sugar sprinkled atop the frosting (Or jimmies) and it's a very easy cookie recipe. I've never tried cream cheese frosting before, though. Maybe I'll save some from my red velvet cake to try here...

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  2. I live to serve!

    Thanks for reminding me of my wheat free ginger snap recipe. They are one of the few cookies I like better than the originals!

    I am going with Piper's idea about the buttercream frosting. Even if it is wrong, it sounds delicious.

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    1. I don't think we can go wrong with frosted cookies...

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    2. What Virginia said. You just can go wrong with whipped butter and sugar. :)

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    3. Julie!

      That's the cream part!!! Butter cream!

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    4. So, Piper, did your recipe say to frost the cookies? I had to go backs nd look to see if I missed someting AGAIN. But there was no mention of frosting.

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    5. I have the 1972 edition of the BC cookbook. I can take a picture of the recipe and send it to you, that is what it says. We would never eat them naked!! I can't believe it isn't in your edition of the cookbook.

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    6. I just googled ginger creams as well and there are images of them there with frosting. There are suggestions for lemon cream cheese frosting as a variation! Yum!

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    7. Sniff, sniff. I feel so left out. My 19-whatever version says nothing about frosting. So I pulled out my 1950 version. It says, "While slightly warm, frost with Quick Cream Icing (below)."

      Said recipe calls for 3/4 cup sifted confectioners sugar, 1/4 tsp. vanilla, and cream to make easy to spread. Oh, to live in 1950.

      Retreating to cry now. :(

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    8. don't cry just make more! :-)
      Susanna

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    9. I agree with Susanna! Just make more! I'm glad you found it!

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    10. Excellent point, ladies. :-) Thank you.

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    11. Yum, that does sound good to add! That's the type icing I usually make for just about anything that needs icing. :)

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  3. Oh my gosh, these looks delish and I love ginger and I've been hankering to bake something not chocolate ( I know, who would have thunk?!) And I have all the ingredients except...well...does anyone know how long molasses keeps in the fridge? Because I hardly ever use it and I suspect it's been hunkered down in there since last Christmas.

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    1. Kav, this is the only time of year I use molasses and always have some left over from the previous year, so you should be good to go. I don't even store mine in the fridge. You might want to let it sit out a while, though, for ease of pouring.

      If you love ginger, you'll love these. You'll have to let me know if you frosted them or not. :)

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  4. hmm maybe I should try this Betty Crocker cookbook - the heart healthy one I tried one soup recipe and it was terrible :-( only tried cookies once back in college - learned they harden after you take them out of the oven not in the oven - well they harden in the oven too but are burned :-( that lesson has stayed with me!
    I think I'd go for chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin, or sugar cookies or snickerdoodles- I have a cookie 'shortlist' and ginger ain't on it though you'll see me scarfing them down if nothing else is available or on the rare occasion I actually crave ginge r- dont' like ginger tea either!
    Susanna

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    1. Yes, Susanna, you need a standard Betty Crocker Cookbook. They're wonderful.

      As for your cookies, you know what they say. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. :) Chocolate chip or snickerdoodles would be a good start. Whatever you're in the mood for.

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  5. I've made these, years ago! They're supposed to be softer, kind of like a cross of gingerbread X cookie. And they look wonderful, Tex!!!! I bet they were delicious.

    It's a tricky kind of recipe. Most of my kids didn't like spice cookies. I love 'em and molasses cookies, so that meant me eating too many of them!

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    1. Funny you should mention molasses cookies, Ruthy. I was in search of a molasses cookie recipe when I stumble onto this one. Molasses cookies have fond memories for me. Pierce's Bakery in downtown St. Johns, MI. What a treat! Unfortunately, Pierce's is long gone, but the memory of their molasses cookies will live with me forever. :D

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  6. These look wonderful, Mindy! I love Ginger Snaps and Molasses Cookies, but I've never tried these. They'd be a delicious addition to the Christmas repertoire.

    But it sounds like I should add the frosting?

    I'll have to try them both ways. :)

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    1. Jan, if you like ginger snaps and molasses cookies, you'll like these. And you can always sample one (or two:) before deciding on the frosting. I'm still thinking a cream cheese frosting would be yummy. Like the filling on those pumpkin rolls. Yum!

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  7. When you were talking about dough, Mindy.....I may or may not have been daydreaming so hard about it that I didn't even notice the erm....drool that ended up landing on my shirt.....guilty.

    I LOVE baking and I do enjoy a good ginger/molasses flavored anything this time of year because it's just so seasonal! And let's be honest, wouldn't our subconscious want us to have the Tbsp cookies instead of the tsp cookies ;)

    My gramma used to be the best baker, but she's 87 now and can't do much of any cooking anymore. However, she makes stellar whoopie pies. I mean she is known for them! My grandparents had six children. Apparently when one of my uncles was in school, my gram would make whoopie pies using Tbsp and pack them in his lunch so he'd have bragging rights over the other kids who's moms made small cookies lol. I think we all want the big cookies :P

    Great post! Made me laugh :) May have to try these and let you know how they turn out!
    Hannah

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    1. Exactly, Hannah! Ginger and molasses are perfect for this time of year. And thank you for making me feel better about my faux pas on the cookie size. You do have a point.

      Love the story about the whoopee pies and your uncle. I hope Gramma passed that recipe on. Maybe you could take her place as the Queen of Whoopie Pies. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Your family would adore you. :D

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  8. MINDY! That is my exact cookbook! And you know what else? My daughter wanted that exact cookbook. And, in this day in age when you can buy anything from any generation, she could NOT find it. She could find a brand NEW Betty Crocker Cookbook, but it just wasn't the same. Mine is so battered! (and mostly it'd been battered with.......real batter!)

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    1. Mary, I don't even want to guess what's splattered all over mine. Do you have stray pages that were torn out of the three-ring binder by young ones? Mine are all tucked in there somewhere.

      Don't give up on finding one for your daughter. One is bound to show up on Amazon, Ebay, or at a Half-Price books. And Wouldn't that make an awesome birthday/Christmas gift? Think of all the praises you would get.

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  9. btw, those Rice Krispie Bars look so delicious they are EVIL!!!!!!!!!

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    1. Yes, they are. I made another batch today. Bad idea. BAD. But what else am I supposed to do with leftover marshmallows and Rice Krispies?

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  10. Oooh, I love ginger snaps, so I'm sure I"ll love these!! Thanks for sharing, Mindy!

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