- 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tbsp instant coffee
- 1 /2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2Â cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup unsaled butter, softened at room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup fancy molasses (not black strap molasses)
- sparkling sugar (optional)
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer outfitted with a paddle attachment, add butter, egg, molasses, and sugars. Beat until light and creamy, about 4-5 minutes.
While butter is creaming, whisk the flour, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, ground pepper and instant coffee together.
Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until dough clumps together. Do not over mix.
Using a 1-1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, divide dough into 32 portions onto parchment lined cookie sheet. If not icing cookies, roll cookies in sparkling sugar and then freeze dough while you preheat the oven. If icing cookies do not roll dough in sugar as it will be too sweet.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
When ready to bake, place cookie dough 3″ inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until cookies are set around the edges.
Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool for about 5 to 7 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring them onto a baking rack to finish cooling.
Use Royal Icing below for the Latte Art.
VANILLA ROYAL ICING
Ingredients:
- 3.5 cups confectioners sugar
- 2 tbsp meringue powder
- 2 tbsp light corn syrup
- 2 tsp clear vanilla extract
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp coffee extract (optional)
- 4 tbsp warm water
- additional warm water
- gel food colouring – white, brown, yellow (optional) and black
Instructions:
Add all ingredients except coffee extract into a stand mixer outfitted with a whisk attachment.
Whisk on low until the powdered sugar is fully incorporated.
Turn stand mixer to high speed and whisk for 4 minutes until royal icing forms stiff peaks. This is your firm royal icing.
To colour the icing, divide royal icing into 3 batches. Cover icing with plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Working with only one batch at a time, colour the icing until the desired shade is achieve. You will need 3 shades of icing – white for the steamed milk foam, the medium brown shade for the latte and a dark brown for the coffee. Thin royal icing with 1/8 tsp of water, stirring in between, until a 15 second consistency is achieved. Optional step: To achieve a coffee flavoured royal icing, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon coffee extract to the dark brown icing. Stir well to combine.
Transfer icing into disposable piping bags and pipe icing over cookies. To create the Latte Art, please watch my piping reel on Instagram. Reel will be posted the week of Nov 27, 2023.
Enjoy!
Makes 32 cookies
