Timed perfectly for holiday baking, the latest cookbook from the editors of Martha Stewart Living is "Cookie Perfection."
The 100-plus recipes are loosely organized into categories; there are chapters titled "All Dressed Up," "Classics With a Twist" and "Some Assembly Required." The editors also included glossaries of essential tools and ingredients, plus their Golden Rules for cookie baking, such as knowing your oven, lining baking sheets, chilling dough and proper storage.
These cookies are billed as "a ginger-lover's treat, if ever there was one," and are said to be one of Martha Stewart's favorites. The recipe uses three kinds of ginger - ground, crystallized and fresh grated.
Molassas-Ginger Crisps
While baking, these cookies will fill your kitchen with an incredible fragrance, and when it comes time for eating, their bright snap will leave you wanting more.
Makes about 8 dozen
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 cup coarse sanding sugar
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ground ginger, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high, beat butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg and egg yolk, crystallized ginger and grated ginger. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with molasses; mix on low until well combined. Cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a 1-teaspoon measuring spoon or cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll into balls, then coat with sanding sugar. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.
Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are flat and edges are dark golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on baking sheets. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days or frozen up to a month.)
Tip: The easiest way to peel fresh ginger is to reach for a spoon. It removes the thin skin easily, even from the knotty areas. Hold the spoon, concave side facing you, and draw it toward you. Maneuver the spoon and ginger as necessary to get into all the crevices.
Reprinted with permission from "Martha Stewart's Cookie Perfection" by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.