What do Ladies’ Muffs, Vietnamese Hats, Russian Lace, Matildas, Railroad Tracks, Tiles, Diamonds and Pets de Nonne have in common?
All are names of cookies, French cookies to be exact, just a few of hundreds baked in France. “The French Cookie Book” by Bruce Healy (Morrow, 1994) weighs in at over 500 pages.
The winter holidays are a great time to think about cookies, especially welcome now while we are in the wake of a seemingly endless election. Does it all seem overwhelming? Have a cookie. Offer a cookie. Make cookies. Host a cookie party. Adopt an animal from a local shelter and name it Cookie. Need to shift the topic at the dinner table? Shout “Cookies!” and see what happens.
Cookies may not be a cure-all for everything that ails us, but they are a great way to change the discussion and bring a smile, however brief, to just about everyone’s lips.
If you like to give homemade gifts, a tin or basket of cookies is a great option. Look for tins and baskets at thrift stores, buy some parchment paper at your local cookware store, and spend a weekend in the kitchen, enveloped in a fragrant halo of vanilla, ginger, cinnamon and clove.
Cookies! They make us happy, and that is just what we need right about now.
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If you find ginger cookies irresistible, you’ll love these spicy morsels, with three layers of ginger and a hint of white pepper.
Gingery Ginger Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen cookies
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 cups ginger sugar (see Note below) or granulated sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup dark or blackstrap molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
21/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Put the butter into a medium mixing bowl and beat vigorously until smooth, creamy and pale. Add the ginger and 1 cup of the sugar, and mix until smooth. Beat in the egg, the molasses and the vanilla.
Cover and chill the dough for an hour or two.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, white pepper, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and mix with a fork. Add the dry mixture to the egg mixture and fold gently with a rubber spatula until just combined; do not over mix.
Put the remaining sugar into a medium bowl.
Roll the dough into small balls about 11/2 inches in diameter. Drop 3 or 4 balls into the bowl of sugar and agitate it to coat the balls thoroughly in the sugar.
Set the balls on an ungreased baking sheet, placing them about 2 to 21/2 inches apart. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the edges of the cookies have begun to brown and the centers are still soft.
Remove from the oven, let rest a couple of minutes and transfer to wire racks to cool.
Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for 3 or 4 days.
Note: To make ginger sugar, fill a quart canning jar about two-thirds full with granulated sugar. Add several thin slices of fresh ginger, seal the jar and shake it vigorously. Shake several times a day for two or three days. Using tongs, remove the ginger and store, tightly sealed, in the pantry. Use as needed.
