My dad LOVES ginger cookies. They're like, the only type of cookies he eats. So he was very excited when I told him I'd found a butterless recipe on allrecipes.com. (There are some awesome recipes on that site by the way...I found a sweet potato bread recipe on there too, I'll be posting that one later once I get some photos of it.) Anyway, Dad loves ginger. He likes the chewy texture (they're REALLY chewy) of these cookies, and of course he loves that they don't have any butter in them. He can eat as many as he wants without a guilty conscience. Errr..I guess he doesn't want to think about how much sugar's in them. Oh well, you can't have everything, can you? I tried reducing the sugar by a third or so one time, and they tasted a bit bitter...cookies are supposed to be treats, so I'm not gonna try that again!
When I make these, they never last more than two days. So I tend to make them every weekend...they're really easy to make, plus the dough is easy to work with. I think. I haven't made too many types of cookies yet but so far this is my favourite cookie to make. (Plus, they're pretty and smell so nice!)
There's just one thing weird about them though. As you can see in the photos below, the very first time I made them they came out nice and puffy. But after that, every time I made them they came out completely flat and very spread out. A bit chewier, too. I have no idea why. I thought maybe it was because the egg was too cold or something, so the last time I made them I made sure the egg was at room temperature before mixing it in, but they still came out really flat. Dunno why. Maybe I'm mixing the dough too much??
Anyway, here's the recipe!
Butterless Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup (250mL) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (150 mL) vegetable oil
¼ cup (50 mL) fancy molasses (I substituted honey.)
1 egg (make sure it isn’t too cold)
1 ¾ cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp (7 mL) ground ginger
1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
½ tsp (2 mL) salt
2/3 cup (150 mL) vegetable oil
¼ cup (50 mL) fancy molasses (I substituted honey.)
1 egg (make sure it isn’t too cold)
1 ¾ cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp (7 mL) ground ginger
1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
½ tsp (2 mL) salt
More sugar for rolling cookie dough balls before baking
(optional: chopped up crystallized ginger...about 1/2 a cup? Depends on how much ginger you want in the cookie)
Here's the little ball of dough right before it went into the hothot oven...I stuck a piece of crystallized ginger on top and sprinkled on some extra sugar.
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a rimless baking sheet with parchment paper (or grease it).
2. In large bowl, whisk together 1 cup (250 mL) of the sugar, oil, molasses and egg until smooth.
3. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into sugar mixture. Add crystallized ginger.
4. Shape by rounded tablespoonfuls (15 mL) into balls; roll in remaining sugar to coat. Place 2 inches (5 cm) apart on baking sheet. Stick a couple pieces of crystallized ginger on top to make it pretty, along with some extra sugar.
5. Bake in top and bottom thirds of oven, rotating and switching pans halfway through, until cookies spread out and tops crack, about 12 minutes. Let cool on pans on racks for 10 minutes; transfer to racks and let cool completely. Be careful...they crack easily when they're hot!
(Make-ahead: Layer between waxed paper in airtight container and store for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.)
Here are the pretty cookies all spread out and stuck to each other...man, I never realized how puffy they were the first time I made them!
Compare the thickness of these two cookies...same recipe but completely different shape and texture. I made them exactly the same way too! So weird...gotta figure out why.
These are quite sweet...they pair really well with a nice hot cup of tea or a cold glass of milk..mmm I think I need to go make them again now...
