the perfect ginger cookies

okay. i was always a sucker for gingerbread and other spice-y sweet treats...but whoa. whoa. these are something else. this is better than gingerbread. if you want a little cookie that packs a huge punch in flavor, this is it. this. is. it. the texture is light, flaky, and slightly chewy. you can definitely bake up the whole batch and impress company or hoard them up just for yourself! you can have a pair with a nice cup of chai or have one when you have a sweet tooth. or you can have like five at a time...like my dad, who i definitely caught at midnight with his hand in the cookie jar.

rolled in sugar, these babies are sparkling. literally, the picture above does not do these cookies justice. at first sight, they make you salivate with every glitter of the sugar crystals and the heavenly aroma that wafts up when you lift the lid off the cookie jar. absolute perfection. if this isn't true love...i don't know what true love is!

i got these fabulous ginger chips in the mail from one of my mum's friends.
totally delicious and they melt in your mouth after they're baked in these cookies. mmm.

ingredients:

2 cups of sifted all-purpose flour
2/3 cups of butter, cut into chunks
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups of ginger chips
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of molasses
2 teaspoons of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of ground cloves
3 teaspoons of ginger

 first thing's first: preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

mix your dry ingredients and spices together.

cream your brown sugar and butter together.

incorporate the molasses, egg, and vanilla with a hand or stand mixer.

add your dry ingredients little by little into the wet ingredients

keep mixing...
don't overmix! the dough should be sticky!

add in the ginger. at this point, try not to eat the dough. i definitely started drooling over the smell of the dough. it smells like the winter holidas and happiness. but mostly happiness. ugh. yes.

wrap your dough in plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge. i let it chill for about 2 hours.

when throughly chilled, roll into 1 inch balls. rolling them in sugar is totally mandatory and you won't feel the same satisfaction without a little extra sparkle. if you want to go for gold, roll them twice. yes, i said it. do it. do it.
 lay them 2-3 inches apart (i found that they don't spread much, so don't feel stressed over spacing. i fit 12 on a pan and they baked perfectly! bake them for 10 minutes. if you like a firmer cookie,  go for 12. they're just as delicious.

i baked them on a silicone baking roll, as you can see, which is easier. if you don't have that, go for parchment paper lined on your cookie sheet. after you finish baking them, transfer your paper or silicone baking roll to a cooling rack and let them relax. eat warm, completely cool, or right off the cooling rack! with ice cream! 

they're so stinkin' cute it makes my heart ache! i piped some melted chocolate on top to make a cookie for each family member. completely optional, but a little bittersweet goodness is nice. my preference is that you keep the cookie completely...er...naked...because it just keeps the ginger kick pure. the ginger chips, i noticed, turn completely melty and chewy, not crunchy like how the unbaked chips feel. they're sooooo good! it makes me sad that they're (already!) all gone. </3

if you try this recipe, comment and let me know how this is!
xoxo, jen