Chocolate Ginger Sugar Cookies

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Chocolate Ginger Sugar Cookies
Double chocolate with bits of ginger make a delicious cookie. The cookie dough balls are rolled in granulated sugar to give a sugary and crackly top.
Recipe type: Dessert | Shaped Cookies
Serves: 4½ dozen
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 4½ Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Cool Place, Room Temperature or freeze

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Ingredients
Dough:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1¾ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ¼ cup chopped crystallized (candied) ginger. Tip: finely chop into about ⅛-inch sized pieces. Place the chopped ginger in a small bowl and stir with 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar to help prevent the chopped ginger from clumping together.
Topping:
  • About ¼ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets; line with parchment paper or line with a non-stick baking mat.
Dough:
  1. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift or whisk to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar and beat together until mixture is smooth and creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, beat until thoroughly mixed. Add flour mixture; beat together just until well mixed.
  3. Remove bowl from mixer, using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula stir in the chocolate chips and chopped ginger.
  4. Shape dough into small balls, about 1” in diameter. using 1 tablespoon of dough for each ball.
Topping:
  1. Roll the balls in granulated sugar until completely coated.
  2. Bake: Place balls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake 11 to 13 minutes or just until cookie edges are set. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool.

Adapted from Bake From Scratch Holiday Cookies 2018

 

Chocolate Witch Hat Cookies

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Chocolate Witch Hat Cookies
Start with a yummy chocolate cookie, top with a bit of melted candy melts, a chocolate kiss, and a few Halloween sprinkles. Kids of all ages will love these Halloween goodies.
Recipe type: Dessert | Shaped Cookies | Crackle Cookies | Halloween Cookies
Serves: 3½ dozen
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 2 Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Cool Place, Room Temperature or freeze

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Ingredients
Parchment paper or small amount of vegetable shortening for preparing baking sheets
Dough:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or, 8 ounces semisweet baking chocolate chopped into small pieces
  • ⅓ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
  • About ¼ cup granulated sugar
Decorations:
  • 3½ to 4 dozen chocolate kisses, unwrapped
  • About 8 ounces candy melts. Tip: I used Merckens Orchid, Orange, and Alpine Green Confectionery Coating Wafers.
  • Sprinkles of your choice
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour baking powder and salt. Sift or whisk to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a medium-size heavy-bottom pan over low heat, combine chocolate and butter, stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until melted. Remove from heat.
  3. Add brown sugar, use a wooden spoon to beat until thoroughly mixed. Then add eggs and vanilla and continue to beat until thoroughly mixed. Add flour mixture; stir until well mixed.
  4. Cover dough and refrigerate until well chilled, about 4 hours or overnight.
  5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets; lightly grease with shortening, or line with parchment paper, or line with a non-stick baking mat.
  6. Shape dough into small balls, about 1” in diameter. using 1 tablespoon of dough for each ball.
Topping:
  1. Roll the balls in granulated sugar until completely coated.
  2. Bake: Place balls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake 15 minutes or just until cookie edges are set. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
Decorations:
  1. Place the colored wafers in the top of a double boiler over hot water. Melt, stirring gently with a rubber spatula. If using different colors, melt each color separately. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowl on top of the simmering water, the upper pan should not touch the water.
  2. Place the melted wafers in a decorating bag with a round decorating tip. Tip: I used disposable decorating bags with a #8 or #10 tip. Or, place in a small resealable plastic bag and cut the corner of the bag to make about a ¼ inch opening.
  3. For each cookie, pipe about a 1-inch circle of melted wafers in the center of the cookie, press 1 of the candy kisses into the center of the melts, then sprinkle with a few sprinkles. Let set until the candy melts are completely set, 10 to 20 minutes.

Decorations inspired from Betty Crocker

 

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

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Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Rich chocolate cookies with a sugar coating, these cookies are just a bit chewy and ultra-delicious. The sugar coating makes a distinctive crackled top.
Recipe type: Dessert | Shaped Cookies | Crackle Cookies | Chocolate Cookies
Serves: 3½ dozen
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 3½ Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Cool Place, Room Temperature or freeze

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips
Ingredients
Parchment paper for preparing baking sheets
Dough:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or, 8 ounces semisweet baking chocolate chopped into small pieces
  • ⅓ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
  • About ¼ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour baking powder and salt. Sift or whisk to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a medium-size heavy-bottom pan over low heat, combine chocolate and butter, stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until melted. Remove from heat.
  3. Add brown sugar, use a wooden spoon to beat until thoroughly mixed. Then add eggs and vanilla and continue to beat until thoroughly mixed. Add flour mixture; stir until well mixed.
  4. Cover dough and refrigerate until well chilled, about 4 hours or overnight.
  5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets; lightly grease with shortening, or line with parchment paper, or line with a non-stick baking mat.
  6. Shape dough into small balls, about 1” in diameter. using 1 tablespoon of dough for each ball.
Topping:
  1. Roll the balls in granulated sugar until completely coated.
  2. Bake: Place balls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake 15 minutes or just until cookie edges are set. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool.

 

Sugar and Spice Cookies

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Sugar and Spice Cookies
A little sugar plus a little spice turns ordinary sugar cookies into a delightful spiced treat and have the perfect amount of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to give a subtle but not overwhelming spicy taste. These cookies are good plain with a hot cup of coffee or cocoa, but I like to dress them up with a little vanilla frosting to make them even better.

I made two versions of this cookie and everyone liked them both equally. In the first batch of cookies which I made for Thanksgiving this year, I used ½ cup of light brown sugar and ¾ cup granulated sugar. This made the cookie dough more golden which was perfect for the fall leaves cookie cutters I used. In the second batch of cookies I eliminated the brown sugar and used all granulated sugar, 1¼ cups, which resulted in a lighter cookie, perfect for Christmas decorated cookies. Use either version you choose, both were loved by everyone I shared them with.
Recipe type: Dessert | Cutout Cookies | Frosted Cookies
Serves: 3 to 4 dozen cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 3 to 4 Dozen Storage: Airtight Container,
Room Temperature or freeze

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 2⅓ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1¼ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Frosting:
  • 3 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons milk (preferably whole milk)
  • Food coloring (optional)
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar; cream together until mixture appears light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add egg and vanilla extract; beat until thoroughly mixed. Add flour mixture; stir to mix.
  3. Form dough into a 6-inch flattened disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Baking sheets may be ungreased, lined with parchment paper, or lined with a non-stick baking mat.
  5. On a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board, and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to a ¼ inch thickness. Cut dough into desired shapes using a cookie cutter that has been dipped in flour (to help prevent dough from sticking to the cutter.)
  6. Bake: Place cutout dough 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and the edges are very lightly browned. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool.
Frosting:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine confectioner’s sugar, butter, and vanilla extract. Use an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon and beat together until mixture is smooth, adding enough milk to make a good spreading consistency. Tip: when adding the milk, start with 2 tablespoons, then add additional milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency. Add food coloring if desired.
  2. Frost cooled cookies, and decorate with some of the frosting tinted with food coloring, if desired. Tip: I frosted ½ of each cookie, then with the leftover frosting used red and green food coloring for the decorations. I put the colored frostings in a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip and piped free-form holly leaves and trees.
  3. Set aside until frosting is set.

  4. Sugar and Spice Cookies