The BEST Gingerbread Cookies

I am totally in love with Christmas, and Christmas cookies and desserts. Recently I found a recipe on Smitten Kitchen Blog, and tried it out. We've made them about 4 or 5 times in the last month, and they are fantastic. I haven't tried rolling them out and using cookie cutters yet. We roll them into balls and get the fluffiest, yummiest Christmas cookies ever. They make our house smell delicious too.

Gingersnaps

Yield: About 2 dozen

2 1/4 cups (281 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2 to 3 grams) table salt
3 teaspoons (6 grams) ground ginger
1 teaspoon (2 grams) cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 sticks (8 ounces or 227 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (96 grams) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup (79 ml) unsulphured molasses

Optional, for even more of a ginger kick: Add 1 to 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger (with the wet ingredients) or 1 to 2 tablespoons finely minced candied ginger (with the dry ingredients).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars together until fluffy, about three minutes on medium. Add egg and molasses and beat until combined. Add dry ingredient and beat at low speed until just combined. Thoroughly scrape down bowl, ensuring ingredients are evenly mixed.

Transfer your cookie dough to plastic wrap — mine was quite soft and I felt like I was spreading frosting over plastic. I used a plate to support it. Chill in fridge for at least two hours, until firm.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Roll dough into 1-inch balls and spread at least two inches apart on baking sheets that have either been greased or lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, which is a long range. In the 10 to 12 range, the cookies will be softer. In the 13 to 15 range, a bit snappier. In both cases, you’ll want to leave them on their baking sheets for long enough that they’re firm enough to be transferred to a cooling rack with a spatula, anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. Cool cookies completely before packing up.

We bake them for about 10-12 minutes, and boy are they delicious. I like my cookies soft, and won't eat them if they are hard or have a snap to them. We grate fresh ginger each time, so we use about 2 or 2 1/2 tsp. Recently I got out the Magic Bullet to chop up the ginger, because I could not stand continuously grating it! 

You HAVE to try them! Let me know how they are if you roll them out. 

Yikes! Porcupines!

Oh boy, yet another new recipe that we are trying tonight. I took out some ground beef this morning, but wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it. I googled some things, and found this recipe which received 4 stars. We'll see what we think after dinner tonight!

I made some changes to the recipe, because I wasn't quite sure if it was going to have any flavor.

Porcupines

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup water

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, rice, 1/2 cup of water and onion. Blend in salt, celery salt, garlic powder and pepper. Mix well. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the meatballs; drain fat.
3. In an 11x7 inch baking dish, combine the tomato sauce and 1 cup of water. Place the browned meatballs into the tomato sauce, turning to coat well.
4. Cover and bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes. Uncover, and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

I left out the onion, only because we didn't have one and I didn't feel like going to the store. I added 2 tsp of chopped cumin, a sprinkle of garlic pepper, fresh garlic instead of garlic powder, and added an egg to the meat. I sprinkled in some breadcrumbs, because it just wasn't sticking together and that helped a lot. I didn't fry the meatballs, instead I popped them in the oven for about 25 minutes at 425. I think frying meatballs can dry them out, and I wanted to make sure these were really juicy.

Jesse is always game to try new recipes, so I'll have to update this after we try it out.