Chocolate Ginger Cookies

The husband has been traveling alot lately. It puts me in a bad mood when all the household chores fall on my shoulders. Things like taking out the trash when you have a very long driveway and cleaning up cat hairballs seem to top my list of things that annoy me when Mr. Allan is away, especially since the cats seem to act so incredibly bad when he's not around...like they think I hog tied him and threw him in the woods and he's never coming back.

So, after a fifth week of travel for Mr. Allan, I needed to pop out of my cranky pants mood and put a happy face on. So, I thought, what better to do than bake some cookies. I looked in the cupboards, snagged a bag of chocolate chips and started flipping through some cookbooks looking to give a new recipe a whirl. Martha Stewart's Chewy Chocolate Ginger Cookies were the winner.

I liked this recipe for a few different reasons.

1) it's hard to be in a bad mood when you grate fresh ginger. It smells so good

2) these weren't gi-normous cookies you feel guilty eating. They were on the lighter side and not heavy and weighed down with too many nuts, chocolate pieces etc. I typically try not to eat too many of my creations, but snuck one and didn't feel guilty.

3) chocolate and ginger and these spices = a good combo

Chewy Chocolate Ginger Cookies from the queen herself, Martha Stewart

7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate  ( I used 3/4 bag of Nestle Semi Sweet Chips)

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions


Line two baking sheets with parchment. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!