Friday, January 23, 2015

Kav's Gingerbread Cookies

Missy, here. And I'm thrilled to share a post today from Kav. Y'all give her a big Yankee-Belle welcome!

Soft Gingerbread Cookies
Kav Rees

So, I posted a picture of my biggest Christmas kitchen triumph on Facebook and Missy asked me to share it here. But first I thought I’d give you a gander at my wee little house that’s falling apart.





Luckily you can’t notice all its flaws in this picture thanks to my garden. That’s at the early stages. Blissful sigh. I love my garden. Now it’s just piles of snow.



And here’s my tiny little kitchen complete with floor tile counters! Talk about step-saving design. I didn’t have to move an inch in order to access everything I needed to create today’s confection…



 Drum roll please….soft and chewy gingerbread cookies. I know, y’all are probably rolling your eyes at the simplicity of it all. Who can’t make gingerbread? Me for one! No matter what recipe I tried it always came out way too crispy. In fact, some of my attempts could have been used for hockey pucks. Even my dogs wouldn’t risk their canines on them! So when my daughter requested gingerbread cookies for part of our Christmas baking line up I cringed and promptly made her research a recipe so I could blame her for the epic fail sure to come. Only sweet success!!!!!!

 Soft Not Snappish Gingerbread Cookies

Butter (1/2 cup)
Dark Brown Sugar (3/4 cup)
Molasses (1/3 cup)
Egg (1)
Flour (2& 2/3 cup)
Ground Ginger (2 tsp)
Baking Soda (1 tsp)
Salt (1/2 tsp)
Ground cinnamon (1/2 tsp)
Nutmeg (1/2 tsp)
Alspice (1/2 tsp)



Ignore the white sugar. It snuck in there when I wasn’t looking. Such a ham!

I didn’t take pictures of the process but you cream butter and sugar really well. Add in molasses and egg. Mix the dry ingredients separately and then mix gradually with the butter/molasses mixture. You’ll have to use your hands when you add the last of the flour mixture and then knead the dough for bit. It feels really dry at first, but keep at it and pretty soon you’ll have a nice smooth ball of gingerbread dough.



Divide into two balls and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

(Funny side note here. My daughter copied this recipe down and she’s notorious for leaving things out. This time it looks like she left out a water measurement in the ingredient list because as I was copying out the directions I noticed it said to add water. LOL. Oops, no idea how much, but I’ve made it twice now and haven’t missed the water. Wondering if that’s what makes these so soft and chewy instead of crisp? Who knows?)

On a lightly floured surface roll out dough – I left it thicker than I would for sugar cookies because I like my gingerbread soft not snappish. Cut out cookies, place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet (or just use parchment paper which is what I do). Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. I undercook mine…so first couple of batches are 8 minutes but later ones are about 7 minutes because I’m all about the chew in my gingerbread.



I’m actually going to freeze these sweeties and decorate them closer to Valentine’s Day so the decorated pic at the top of this post is a picture of our Christmas cookies – decorated with a zip lock bag that had a hole cut out of a corner. Hoping to get a proper decorating set before I make these pretties into Valentine treats. I’ll pipe around them and add love scripture references in the centre. I used to do that when I taught Sunday School and made the students read the scripture before they could eat the cookie. Devious, eh?


****

Kav is a mystery – even to herself which maybe explains why she is so fond of romantic suspense.  After a lifetime of writing as a leisure pursuit, she is now setting her sights towards publication.

A passionate reader of inspirational fiction, Kav devours books and then blogs about them on her review blog http://www.bestreads-kav.blogspot.ca where she is fond of hosting giveaways as well. She is also part of a ten woman blogging team over at http://inkspirationalmessages.com/  

You can also find Kav on Facebook.

21 comments:

  1. KAVALICIOUS!!!!! I love that you're on the other side of the screen today, sweet thing!!!!!

    Oh I will try these! You know, parchment paper cookies come out a little softer than their non-parchment buddies and undercooking slightly (I do that with my sugar cookies, too!) is a great equalizer! How marvelous these look and I can (sniffs air... smiles!!!!) I can smell them on this side of the pond!!!! (Kav lives on one side of Lake Ontario. I live on the other.)

    I love the sweet, little house. Oh, that's a storybook house if ever there was one. The mystery writer in her cozy bungalow!!!!!! Watch out neighbors, she might be plotting your demise! Fictionally, of course!

    Thank you so much for this, I can't wait to try them on my peeps around here!

    Ruthy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oooohhh, I didn't know that about parchment paper! Another reason to use it all the time! I was using it to avoid the messy cleanup. LOL And these do smell divine. Such a happy smell! Hope your peeps like them.

      My storybook house is turning into a nightmare house with it's crumbling foundation and listing stoop. Every year I debate moving but can't bring myself to yet. I love my neighbourhood, especially the fact that I can walk to a open air farmer's market in the summer and fall.

      Delete
    2. Walking to the market is reason enough to stay, but crumbling foundations are trouble.... :( Dadgum!

      Delete
  2. First. LOVE THAT KAV DID A POST!!! Loved the peek into her world. So much fun.

    Second. I am a huge purveyor of soft gingerbread. I eat the crispy but not as happily as the soft.

    Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like the crispy too, Tina, when they are called gingersnaps! I've never made them successfully either but there's a little German bakery close to me that makes these wonderful wafer thin ones at Christmas time. Divine. Hope you enjoy this recipe. I'm tickled that it keeps working out for me. My friends and family are going to get bored fast because I just love making these gingerbread cookies sooooo much.

      Delete
    2. I used to make a delicious gingerbread cake that had a lemon sauce... it was called "Haddon Hall Gingerbread" and it was from a Betty Crocker cookbook and it was the best "cakelike" gingerbread I ever had. It spoiled me for all others because the combo of the lemon sauce and the gingerbread was amazing. I wonder how these would be with a lemon icing???? Something to think about, right????

      Delete
    3. Oh, Ruthy, that cake sounds yummy. I have read about gingerbread cake in books but never tried any! Must look into that.

      Delete
  3. I have a great gluten free recipe I may have to get out today. I tend to relegate the recipe to Christmas. Thanks for giving me another option!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PS I love your garden!!!!! And your kitchen.

      Delete
    2. I need to play with more gluten free baking for my daughter. I use spelt most of the time (she's just wheat sensitive) but sometimes spelt isn't a good fit for a recipe.

      I love my garden too. It's developed a lot since that picture. One of the reasons I want to stay here as long as possible.

      Delete
    3. I, too, really enjoyed seeing your lovely home and garden!! I feel like I can picture you better now when we're hanging out online. :)

      Thanks for sharing the recipe! I love the idea of doing Valentine's decorations.

      Delete
    4. Thanks for asking me, Missy. Wish I could see my garden right now. Should have taken a picture of what it looks like now...piles of snow. LOL

      Delete
  4. KAV!!!! I'm so glad you're here. And that we got a glimpse into your world. Your house, your garden, your kitchen... Beautiful.

    I love, love, LOVE gingerbread. And the fact that they're soft cookies is even better, so I will definitely add this recipe to my repertoire. Can't wait to try them.

    Stay warm, my friend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy to be here too, Mindy. Doesn't the café smell gingerbreadly amazing? :-) Glad you like my humble abode. If we were partying up here in my little house I'd have to hand out fingerless gloves and pashminas for everyone. LOL

      Delete
  5. And your garden is LOVELY. Do you grow any vegetables? Or is that purely perennials and herbs? I tried an herb garden once. Half of it died. The other half is unkillable.Even when we put something else in that spot, rosemary and lavender is still growing there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oy, I learned the hard way about how determined some herbs can be. The whole side yard has been taken over by mint. Mind you nothing else will grow there so....I haven't grown veggies in a couple of years but hope to try again this year. Haven't had tons of success here between marauding raccoons and squirrels and not enough sun in the backyard. I do tomatoes and salad stuff in pots all around the house though.

      Delete
  6. And we still have no idea what Kav looks like. She could sit next to us on a park bench and we'd never know.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ah, silly, Grandpa's place is falling apart much more than your little cottage! Love Ginger Snaps!! YUM! And love your garden!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Believe me, the garden is camouflage...I'll have to post pictures of the real thing sometime. LOL

      Delete