Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies – Here’s to you Martha!
I don’t recall when Martha made these on her show, but it has to of been many years ago because I don’t recall a Christmas where my 12 year old Assisticant hasn’t asked for them. These are her all-time favorite cookies, which you could find strange. Why would a kid like ginger? They have grated fresh ginger AND ground dried ginger. Who knows, but this kid LOVES these cookies. By the way, this is no way a “brown-nose” after yesterday’s post. These cookies were on the list to be made several weeks ago!
Now that we have that out of the way.
There is something wonderful and chewy and gingery about these cookies that makes them a staple come Christmas. Maybe its the process of making them, or it could just be one of those fantastic recipes that is never fail. Either way, you should give them a shot and see what you think. The original recipe calls for chopping up chocolate but I just use semi-sweet chips. I go for easy. This recipe is a process so be prepared for some serious photos. Let’s get to it, shall we? I’ll meet you at the end with a cup of coffee and a cookie!
 |
| To your flour, add all of your spices and cocoa powder. |
 |
| Give it a whisk to blend together. |
 |
| To the bowl of your mixer add the butter and then grate in fresh ginger. (I doubled the recipe, so 1 cube is what you’d need for a single recipe)
Note: Did you know that you can keep fresh ginger for months? Store it in a ziploc bag (remove the air as much as you can) and then pop it in the freezer. Take out what you need and use a spoon to scrape off the skin. Frozen ginger is easier to grate than unfrozen as well. |
 |
| Cream the butter and ginger together for about 4 minutes.
Notice how the butter is smeared up the sides of the mixing bowl? Ask Santa for one of these I am! Hear that Santa? |
. |
| Scrape down the sides and add the brown sugar. Whip it, whip it good. |
 |
| Next goes in the molasses. I just love the smell of molasses. So earthy! |
 |
| Time to start the kettle of water for the boiling water/baking soda mixture. |
 |
| Add half of the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix to combine.
Go get the kettle off the stove. |
 |
| Add the baking soda to the boiling water and mix it to combine.
Add it to the dough mixture and mix it in quickly. |
 |
| Add the last half of the flour and mix to combine.
Take a horrible picture. Ask Santa for a SideSwipe AND a new camera! |
 |
| Toss in the chocolate chips and give it a quick mix to incorporate.
Eat a handful. Hide the rest from the kids. |
 |
| Wrap up the dough and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
Take a break. Phew – this is hard work. |
 |
| Cut off a chunk and make 1 1/2 inch balls. |
 |
Roll in sugar and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment (or Silpats  if you have them).
Pop in the fridge for 20 minutes BEFORE you bake them. This is the “chewy” trick. |
 |
| Bake them at 325 for 10-12 minutes or until the tops start to crack. |
 |
| Sparkly and YUMMY!
Martha’s Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies {Printable Recipe} 7 oz semisweet chocolate 1 1/2 c plus 1 tbsp all purpose flour 1 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1 tbsp cocoa powder 1 stick unsalted butter 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger 1/2 c dark brown sugar, packed 1/2 c unsulfured molasses 1 1/2 tsp boiling water 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 c sugar 1) In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg & cocoa. |
