Description
These crispy and spicy cookies need to be rolled (or sliced) very thin… like 1/8 of an inch. So make sure the dough is properly chilled before baking. They keep well and stay crunchy for a long time (probably 2 weeks or so) as long as they’re stored in an airtight container.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (445 grams) all-purpose flour (plus a bit more for rolling out the dough)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (finely ground)
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) butter
- 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 whole egg plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup molasses
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients (the 3 cups of flour through pepper) in a medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine.
- In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, and molasses and beat until well combined.
- Add dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture gradually, about a third at a time. Mix gently just until the dry ingredients become well incorporated. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl often.
- Turn the dough out onto a sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap and use your hands to push it together, making it into a ball (or turn it into logs if you plan to slice the dough rather than roll it out). Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least two hours. If you’re planning to slice cookies from logs of dough, it’s easier to get them very thin if you freeze the dough for a bit first.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- FOR ROLLED COOKIES: Roll out pieces of the dough very thin, using parchment or waxed paper and a little dusting of flour to keep the dough from sticking. Roll the dough to about 1/8th of an inch, cut with cookie cutters, and place on parchment paper lined cookies sheets.
- FOR SLICED COOKIES: Make very thin slices of the cookie dough logs (about 1/8th of an inch), and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
- TO BAKE: Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for about 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size and shape of the cookies. You want to bake them until they are getting brown around the edges, and they appear to be dry.
- Move the parchment with the cookies to a cooling rack, and allow cookies to cool completely. They will become more crisp and crunchy as they cool.
- Store in an air tight container to keep the crunchy texture.