Fairy Gingerbread

Isn't that a marvelous name for a cookie?  And these are marvelous cookies, indeed. Light as air yet they have a most potent double whammy punch of ginger flavor. They use fresh, grated ginger as well as lightly toasting ground, dried ginger.  When you take a bite, they literally melt in your mouth and then you can feel the warmth of the ginger spreading.  They are quite remarkable and quite addictive.  You've been forewarned!

This recipe came from the Cook's Illustrated folks other great cooking publication and show called Cook's Country. It takes rather old fashioned recipes they find from old cookbooks and other sources and modernize them for today's kitchens and cooks.  I am never disappointed with their recipes and this one will be a keeper.

Fairy Gingerbread

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
9 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger  (Using a rasp grater works very well)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and prepare your cookie sheets. Spray the cookie sheets with cooking spray and cover with a sheet of parchment paper.

2. Heat the ground ginger in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute.

3. Combine the flour, toasted ginger, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

4. Using a stand mixer beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, on medium-high speed.

5. Add fresh ginger and vanilla and mix until incorporated, about 30 seconds.

6. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with 2 additions of milk.

7. You are now ready to spread the batter evenly on the 2 prepared cookie sheets. Each sheet should have about 3/4 cup of batter. Do not fret if it looks like there is not a lot of batter on the sheet. These cookies should be really thin.

8. Bake until a deep golden brown, about 16 - 20 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. I baked it 16 minutes, but that felt a bit too long. Assess halfway through and determine how much more time you will need.

9. Once completely baked, take the cookie sheets out and score immediately using a chef's knife or a pizza cutter.

10. Once the cookies are cool, about 20 minutes, you can remove the cookies from the parchment. Go over scoring lines with the dull side of a paring knife and they should separate perfectly. Enjoy!