Ginger Cooooookie!!!!

So, I made cookies. I think like 3 people voted (Amparo, Julia, and Kevin. I don't know if Sarah was agreeing with them or just whatever) and said they wanted the ginger chocolate chunk cookies. So here they are.

First off, I'm not a baker. I cannot bake. Unlike regular cooking, where you can basically just wing it and throw crap in, I don't believe baking is like that at all. Baking is an exact science. If you measure a little too much flour or a little too much something else, the whole thing goes crazy. So I let professionals figure out how much is good and how much is bad.

So, full on props go to Susan Spungen, who made this recipe.

This is for 36 cookies. And at 12 cookies per batch, if you've done your math right, you'll need 3 batches to make the 36... although my 36th cookie was like a mini cookie. Well, here we go!!!

First the dry ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves (or 3 whole cloves crushed)

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

I know the sugar is there, but I put it there by mistake. We'll get to it don't worry. We're not making a cookie with no sugar in it. Because as Gary Gulman says, "Every cookie is a sugar cookie. A cookie without sugar is a cracker."

OK, we all need a good lesson on how to properly measure flour. Seriously, people do this all the time and it bugs me. But here's a video on how to do it correctly. Use it.

So, I didn't have any ground clove, so I just used the whole cloves and crushed them.

Like this!

And got this. Just as good.

Once you get all your dry ingredients just whisk it together really well.

Now for the wets:

1 1/2 sticks of butter (ROOM TEMPERATURE!)

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

Eventually:

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup molasses

Butter looks really weird huh? It's at room temperature as it should be. Looks gross but it'll be easier to work with and taste better.

Using a mixer, mix the butter just a little before you add anything else in.

Add the brown and white sugars

And mix for about a minute or two before adding anything else.

People think that molasses, because it comes from sugar, is probably going to be sweet and awesome smelling. I know I did. But this stuff smells really really bad. You're going to think something wrong happened, and that your cookies will taste like nasty crap. Especially when the smell won't go away even when you've mixed everything together. Don't worry; it will smell, but your cookies will not stink.

Just pour it in, with the egg yolk. It's really really viscous so you might want to just hold it there while mixing.

OK, for a while, I forgot to work the camera, so I'm really sorry.

So, after I mixed everything together with the butter, I scooped it up and put it on the flour mixture. Now, you can do this with a spatula, but I liked to use my hands. Don't go super crazy, but get it all mixed together. It is sticky and it will stay sticky. Just make sure there aren't any pockets of flour and that the thing is mixed pretty nicely.

Now for the fun parts.

Get a nice bar of good dark chocolate. And chop it up with a knife on a cutting board.

Then, get about 1/3 cup or so of candied (or crystallized) ginger, and do the same.

Mix it into the cookie dough.

Wrap it up, and put it in the refrigerator to chill.

It doesn't have to stay in there too long. But just until its pretty firm. You probably realize by now, how ridiculously sticky it is. I kept it in there for about 45 minutes?

While you wait, you might as well clean the other bowl, and any spills and all that fun stuff. That way you can enjoy the cookies when they're done instead of moping around while you clean as others chow down.

Oh, and get the oven preheated to 350F.

So, before you start, I want you to make a little station like this. A plate with some sugar in it next to the baking sheet with some parchment paper.

Why the parchment paper? Because it's amazing. The cookies won't stick to the pan, which is wonderful. And it makes clean up sooooo much faster. It's ridiculous how awesome it is.

DO NOT use wax paper. Wax paper does not go in the oven. The wax will melt and it will be terrible. DO NOT USE IT!

Now I want you to make your cookies about 1 Tbsp sizes. So just use that Tbsp measuring spoon to get them out.

I will warn you though. Because there are chunks of ginger and chunks of chocolate, you probably want to even it out. If you find that a spoonful has none or too many, remake it.

You don't have to roll it. Actually I'd say don't make it too rolly. Don't squish it.

But do roll it in the sugar. Give it a nice even coat. You think this is too sweet? Well, too bad; it's a freaking cookie. And the sugar is nice later on when it's all done.

Put them a good distance apart from each other. I had 12 (3x4) on my baking sheet. They will grow and spread, not huge, but they will and you don't want them touching.

So put them into the oven. Give them about 5 minutes, then turn the pan. I'd give it another 6 minutes or so.

Your cookies should have little cracks on top. Don't worry if they're not hardened or anything. You don't want them to be. They'll be soft to the touch, so let them cool on the pan for a minute.

Then transfer them to a cooling rack.

What the heck! Who bit that cookie!?

mmmmm, I did...

So, back to the parchment paper. You can reuse the piece of paper for the next batch. Isn't that wonderful!?

Look how clean that pan is. I'm so happy I used that parchment paper.

Mmmmm... ginger cookie. And don't feel bad about eating them. Apparently gingers don't have souls, so there's nothing wrong with chowing down. Except this kid, he's apparently upset about it. Hahaha, cookies and comedy. (especially at 0:44!) hahahaha.