Mealtime Magic - Ginger Crinkle Cookies and Holiday Thumbprint Cookies from Let's Bake!

 The holiday season is upon us and there's nothing better than baking some delicious cookies for entertaining or giving.

Below are a couple of wonderful recipes from the cookbook Let's Bake! Over 100 Dessert Recipes for Gifting & Giving from experienced home baker Gail Sweeney showcases a gorgeous assortment of cakes, cookies, pastries, and pies — each recipe a gift to share, whether for friends, fundraisers or special occasions.



Recipe #1:
Ginger Crinkle Cookies
Equipment: Three 12 x 18-inch baking sheets, a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a handheld mixer, medium cookie scoop.

Ingredients

2½ cups flour
2¾ teaspoons ground ginger
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup butter at room temperature
1¼ cups white sugar
1 egg at room temperature
¼ cup molasses
½ cup white or fine raw brown sugar for coating the cookie balls

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger powder and finely chopped crystallized ginger on a large piece of parchment paper.

In the bowl of the stand mixer, cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and beat on medium high speed until fully incorporated. Lower the speed, and stream in the molasses, continuing to mix until well blended. Tip in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

Pour raw brown sugar into a small bowl. With a small or medium cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough, rolling each ball of dough in the sugar, before placing the balls on the prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Refrigerate the balls of dough for 1 hour, before baking.

Preheat the oven to 360°F. Bake for 12 minutes until the cookies are lightly browned. Let cool on the sheets. The ginger flavor in the cookies will intensify over time. It is best to let the ginger flavor develop for at least 1 day, at room temperature, or in the refrigerator, before placing them in the freezer.

Ginger is a natural preservative and consequently these cookies can be kept for over two weeks on the shelf or in the refrigerator and can be frozen for up to 3 months.




Recipe #2:
Holiday Thumbprint Cookies
Equipment: Three 12 x 18-inch cookies sheets lined with parchment paper, a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or handheld mixer, a small cookie scoop.

Ingredients

1 cup butter at room temperature
⅔ cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup of jam or preserves of your choice for filling the cookies

For Rolling Before Baking
2 egg whites, room temperature
¾ cup of toasted almonds, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of sugar

Lightly toast the almonds in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes. Give the almonds a fine chop and set aside in a bowl. When the almonds are cool, add one tablespoon of sugar and mix until combined.

Make the dough. In the bowl of the stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla. Whisk together the flour and salt on a piece of parchment paper and tip the flour into the butter mixture. Mix on low speed just until the flour has been incorporated.

Place the egg whites in a bowl and lightly whisk with a fork. Place the chopped almonds next to the bowl of egg whites.

With a small cookie scoop or tablespoon, form the dough into one-inch balls. Dip each ball into the egg white, then into the sugar/almond mixture. Place on the prepared cookie sheets, 1-inch apart. Make a deep indentation with your thumb or any rounded end of a kitchen tool in each cookie and place the cookies in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the unfilled cookies for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and press down into the centers, once more. Warm the jam in the microwave for 35 seconds to loosen it. Fill each center with jam. Place the cookies back in the oven for another 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

These cookies will keep in airtight containers in the refrigerator for 5 days or in the freezer for 1 month.

About the Author

Gail Sweeney has been baking and tweaking her recipes for over 25 years, providing specialty markets, bistros and boutique stores with her renowned goods. Her love for baking stems from the happiness it brings to others. Also an aspiring food photographer, her recipes have been featured in local newspapers and television in Ontario, Canada.

Let's Bake
Written by Gail Sweeney
Published by Hatherleigh Press.
Distributed through Penguin Random House.
Available wherever books are sold.
www.hatherleighpress.com