Hello all!
I hope the Holiday season finds you all full of joy and happiness! This is my absolute favorite time of the year! Seriously, I wait all year long for this and it always seems to fly by. I happen to be one of those crazy girls who starts listening to Christmas music way too early…in case you were wondering. And no, I will not tell you when I start-it’s embarrassing! 😉 OO! Something fun I want to share with you is my new hair cut! Our mom, Tami, is an amazing hair stylist and she gets creative with Jenn and I whenever we’re in the mood for a fun change! Well, there I was-ready for a change! I’ve had long hair for the last 15 or so years of my life and this felt like the right time to chop it and get all funky for the Holiday season! So, here it is! Let me know what you think!
Anywho, on to the yummys! One of my favorite cookies in the world is ginger snaps! I recently bought a bag from the grocery and they didn’t last very long. I forgot the brand I bought but, for being a processed cookie item it didn’t contain too many ingredients and was surprisingly-vegan! After devouring the entire thing within a few days I thought that they must be fairly easy to make at home. So I went recipe hunting and I found one that sounded yummy! I follow Happy Healthy Life’s blog often and they have a great recipe! http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2010/11/molasses-ginger-cookies-vegan-recipe.html
So here’s how we do it!
This makes approx 20 cookies. I doubled the recipe and it came out to around 35…but it all depends on the size of your cookies!
BTW I have copied their instructions as I did exactly what they told me to do! Well, pretty much 🙂
You will need:
2 cups flour (I used all-purpose whole wheat)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp ginger powder
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1/4+ cup water (see notes)
1/4 – 1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup melted vegan buttery spread
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Soften the vegan butter spread in the microwave. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, ginger powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda/powder. Mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the softened buttery spread, molasses, vanilla extract, grated ginger and water.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir by hand well until all the ingredients are blended into a moist ball of dough. The dough will seem dry at first, but keep stirring and folding and it will come together. If needed add in extra water one spoonful at a time until the dough consistency is reached.
6. If you want perfectly shaped ginger cookies, you can freeze the dough for 1/2 hour then roll out the dough to cookie cutter circle shapes for baking. Or you can simply roll the dough into moist balls, dip in a coating of sugar and bake. I tried both versions and was pleased with both. (If you want crunchier, thinner Gingersnaps – roll the dough out thin, cut into thin circle shapes and bake.)
7. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Fluffy, but not hard. Cookies will firm up when they cool. Note: do not over-bake – or you will get gingerSNAPS instead of cookie chews.
8. Allow the cookies to cool at least 15 minutes before serving. They will harden as they cool as well as overnight.
*In step #6 they mention that you can freeze the dough-just letting everyone know that I didn’t do this in case any is wondering.
And TA-DA!
I hope you guys try these! They were deeelicious! The only complaint that I got was that you could taste the salt in them. This may be something you like or dislike. I personally enjoyed the little salty kick. I also used sea salt that was coarse so that could have a lot to do with it. And pair the cookies with some yummy soy nog! The kind pictured above is by Earth Balance. So good!
Happy Holidays, Everyone!
Kelli
Sprout New Roots 