This Tuesday was a busy day in the kitchen. First, I made the dough for cookies, which had to sit for 3 hours in the fridge. Next, I made some yummy Buffalo Chicken Lasagna for dinner. After dinner, I finally got to make these Ginger Molasses Cookies. I doubled the recipe because I wanted plenty for Mike's office, us, and our friends at Geeks Who Drink Pub Trivia at Whitestone Brewery. These cookies were interesting because they involved using several ingredients I've never used in cookies before, including ginger, cardamom, and pepper. I started by letting my butter sit out a bit, so it would warm up to room temperature. Next, I mixed together flour, cocoa, ginger, pepper, cardamom, and baking powder. In my stand mixer, I combined butter and more ginger. I didn't buy fresh ginger to grate, so I used about 1/2 the amount in powdered ginger instead. Next, I added in sugar and brown sugar. I mixed until it was light and fluffy. The next step was to add in the molasses, which added to the rich flavor. Finally, I mixed in the dry ingredients. I covered the bowl and let it chill for several hours. When I was ready to make the cookies, I had to let it sit out on the counter for a bit so I could scoop it out. I used my scoop and rolled the dough into balls, rolling them in sugar before placing them on cookie sheets. I baked them for 8 minutes at 350. I allowed them to sit on cookie sheets for 10 minutes before removing them to cooling racks. My doubled recipe made about 4 dozen small cookies. Mike and I were eager to try them and found them to be interesting. They had so much flavor, so we only needed to eat 1 or 2 cookies. They were a hit at the office too, but they really went big at Whitestone. The cookies tasted so good with beer! We shared with our favorite bartenders, quiz master, and fellow trivia geeks. I was concerned that they might be an adult cookie, but even a couple of kiddos seemed to like them. This recipe was a hit! If you are searching for a different cookie, this might be a recipe worth trying.

The New Austonian