Honeyed Words: Cookies for All

Cookies for All · 21 December 2006

Eventually this site will be organized, thematic, and hopefully resemble something like the polished blogs soon to be linked to in the left column. Meanwhile, my HTML skills slowly develop and simply putting together small site features takes a ton of time that will one day be devoted to content. The holidays and their attached responsibilities are also approaching with astonishing rapidity and so instead of theming the next few weeks of content, I’ll simply be documenting what is going on in my life of food and fiction.

It was brought to my attention last week that if I expected to eat well at Christmas this year, I’d have to pull my own weight. Lest it be thought that I’m a slacker who comes to the Christmas table with nothing but an empty belly, I can assure you that I always prepare and bring something. I blame the origins of this ultimatum on my mom’s over exuberance in Christmas cookie baking last year and my grandmother’s insistence on leaving in time to drive home before dark. The first resulted in literally dozens upon dozens of cookies, the preparation of which frazzled my mom, and the consumption of which haunted the household well into the New Year. The second ensured that we started off the day with the traditional gorging on sticky breakfast pastries and fruits, moved on to the snack course after present opening, but then had to serve dinner at 2:00. After eating the equivalent of two meals in less than five hours, you can imagine our enthusiasm for dinner was less than exuberant.

This year, my mom was ready to curtail the early morning eating in order to give dinner a chance by implementing a strict “no snackies” rule, but I’d have none of it. Half the joy of Christmas is sitting around in pajamas, sipping on a nice hot cup of your favorite beverage, and knowing that you have nothing to do but eat and laze about for the day. It’s a celebration of relaxation after the frenzied weeks of shopping, partying, wrapping, kibitzing, and cooking. Christmas is time to gather the fruits of your labor and simply enjoy the holiday, at least in my family. We’ve harkened back to the Celtic roots of the holiday and for all practical purposes treat it as a midwinter celebration, something to tide us over the cold dark California winter.

After successfully arguing my case, alternate transportation was arranged for my grandmother, dinner was duly scheduled for the evening, and “snackies” were returned to their rightful midday preeminence. Having conceded to my demands, my mom put her foot down about her own requirements; there would not be as many Christmas cookies this year as last. I think she was expecting disappointment, but those of us who were still snacking on last year’s Christmas cookies this February were actually relieved that there would not be legions of cookies marching into our bellies again. Then, just to make sure that she wasn’t slaving over a hot baking sheet for the entire month of December, she assigned half the cookie duties to me.

As with many families, we have our classic holiday cookies. Snicker doodles are my sister’s favorite, while my mom and grandmother favor Russian tea cakes. In her duty to family traditions, my mom is taking care of these. Given the chance to contribute to family history in the making, I decided to branch out this year and bring something new to the cookie table. My two contributions will be chocolate-ginger freezer cookies and mint chocolate brownies. I started the former tonight to ensure adequate freezing time.

Chocolate-Ginger Freezer Cookies

Recipe is adapted from The Baker’s Bible

2- to 3- inch piece of fresh ginger root
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-processed)
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp finely ground black pepper
2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup pack dark brown sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
Crystallized ginger to decorate

Grate ginger into small bowl and set aside.

Sift together all-purpose flour and cocoa powder into a medium bowl then stir in whole wheat flour, salt, and pepper.

Add butter to large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy, about 30 seconds, then add brown sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in egg yolks, vanilla extract, and grated ginger root until the mixture is smooth and well-blended. Stir in the flour mixture until blended.

Scrape the batter on to a piece of plastic wrap, and using the wrap, shape into a 3-inch log. Wrap tightly and freeze until hard. (Dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.)

Preheat over to 350° F. Line 2 large baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment. Using a sharp knife, cut frozen dough into ¼-inch slices and place 1 inch apart on baking sheets.

Bake until lightly colored, about 15 minutes, rotating baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through cooking time. Remove baking sheets to wire rack to cool about 1 minute, then remove each cookie to wire rack using metal pancake turner.

Once cookies are cool, place chopped chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water (or double boiler.) Stir until melted and smooth. Remove chocolate from heat, and set aside to cool, stirring occasionally. When chocolate reaches spreading consistency, use a knife or small spatula to spread a little on each cookie. Top the cookies with a few small pieces of crystallized ginger and allow cookies to set.

The picture in the book looks gorgeous and festive. I can’t wait until my dough is frozen to see how they turn out.

Searchable keywords: Chocolate, Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, Ginger, Holidays, Vegetarian