Cranberry White Chocolate Crumb Bars
Serving
Difficulty
If you like gingersnaps, you’re going to love my thin and crisp gingerbread cookies. I originally posted about these cookies a couple of years ago, looking back at the post, the instructions for these thin and crisp gingerbread cookies weren’t very clear. Moreover, I felt that they deserved their own special post with clearer instructions. So, here I am with my favorite gingersnap cookie recipe once again.
If you love warm spices, you’ll love these bold flavoured cookies!
If you haven’t made my thin and crisp gingerbread cookies then now is the perfect time to try them. They are delicious with a crunchy and bold flavour; they are full of warm, gingery spices. My cookie recipe produces cookies that are similar in texture to the Ikea’s Kafferep Ginger Thin Cookies. Like the Ikea ones, this recipe makes crunchy cookies with a good snap. The flavour too is similar to the Ikea ones; however, my thin gingerbread cookies have a bolder, spicer flavour with a warmth that lingers in your mouth. If you love spice, then I highly recommend that you add a pinch of cayenne. They definitely add to the flavour and make these delicious cookies even spicier and bolder! They are one of my all-time favourite cookies and I love making them in snowflake shapes because I absolutely love piping snowflakes! Don’t believe me? Check this out!
Use 6-sided snowflake cookie cutters!
If you like snowflake shaped cookies as much as I do, I highly recommend that you select snowflake cookie cutters that are 6-sided as opposed to 5-sided. The cookie cutter used for these cookies are from Ikea. I absolutely fell in love with the shape of these. It wasn’t until I got home, opened the package and started using them, when I realized that they were 5-sided cutters. Here’s an opportunity to learn from my mistake! 5-sided snowflake cookie cutters are very hard to pipe. You can’t simply pipe a line of icing from one side to the other. You need to ice each spoke from the outside to the middle of the cookie …. and it’s really hard figuring out where the middle of the cookie is! So, save yourself some headache and only purchase 6-sided snowflake cookie cutters regardless how cute and pretty they look! Lesson learnt!
THIN AND CRISP GINGERBREAD COOKIES
- 3 cups(360g) All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tspGround Ginger
- 1/2 tspGround Allspice
- 1 tspGround Cinnamon
- 1/4 tspGround Cloves
- 1/4 tspNutmeg
- Pinch of Cayenne Pepper (optional)
- 1/4 tspSalt
- 1/2 tspFreshly Ground Black Pepper
- 2 tspBaking Soda
- 1 cup(227g) Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 1/2 cup(100g) Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 cup(100g) Packed Light Brown Sugar
- 1Large Egg
- 1/3 cup(93g) Fancy Molasses
*Note: Do not substitute Black Strap Molasses for Fancy Molasses. Black Strap Molasses has a somewhat bitter after-taste and will ruin the flavour of your cookies.
Instructions
- In a medium size bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cayenne pepper (if using), salt, pepper, and baking soda. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and molasses and beat until well combined.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated. Do not over mix. The dough will be on the soft side.
- Divide dough into 4 portions. Place each portion between 2 sheets of parchment paper and using a rolling pin, roll each portion to ¼” thickness. Wrap each portion separately in plastic cling wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Working with 1 portion at a time, on a well-floured surface, roll out each portion of dough to 1/8” thickness. Lightly floured cookie cutter and cut out snowflake shapes.
- Place cutout cookie dough 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet and place the cookie sheet with the cutout cookies in the freezer to chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove cookie sheet from the freezer and place cookies directly into the preheated oven. Bake for about 12 minutes until edges are lightly golden.
- Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before sliding cookies and parchment paper off onto cooling rack to cool completely.
For Royal Icing:
- 3oz (6 tbs) pasturized egg whites
- ½ tsp cream of tartare
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
In a stand mixer or using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites with cream of tartare until foamy. With the machine on low speed, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, whisking in between until fully incorporated. Increase speed to high and continue whisking until mixture is very thick and forms stiff peaks. Transfer royal icing into a piping bag and pipe as usual. Store any unused royal icing in an airtight container to prevent icing from drying out.
