The Perfectly Perfect Chewy Gingersnap Cookie

My favourite cookie is the gingersnap. Not the crunchy kind but the kind that is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle. The below recipe makes the perfectly perfect chewy gingersnap cookie. If it was anymore perfect, we'd have to name them Mary Poppins;)

What You'll Need:

• 1 large bowl
• 1 small bowl
• Hand mixer or stand mixer
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup of dark brown sugar
• 2 large room-temperature eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 Tbps wet ginger (I like to use the wet ginger in a jar rather than powdered dry ginger. If you do use powdered ginger, cut back the amount to 2 tsp)
• Additional sugar, for rolling

What You'll Do:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
• Line your baking sheets with parchment paper
• In your large bowl and using your hand mixer (or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment), beat the sugar and butter on high speed until light and creamy
• Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, mixing after each
• Add the molasses and mix until incorporated (a trick I use to ensure the molasses doesn't stick to my measuring cup is to lightly spray the measuring cup with oil. This way the molasses just slides right out)
• In your smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon
• Add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture
• Add in your wet ginger
• Mix on low until combined
• Portion your dough using a tablespoon and roll each amount into a perfect ball
• Roll the dough ball in white sugar
• Place the cookie dough on the prepared sheet pan
• Place the sheet pan in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill
• Bake until puffed and edges are set, 9-10 minutes. You do not want to overcook these beauties!
• Let cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely
• Enjoy!

These are also great for freezing. This recipe yields a large batch, so I like to freeze portions of them. They are also fabulous cookies for Cookie Swaps and holiday hostess gifts.

The STEWART SCORE:

Appearance: 2

Taste: 2+

Ease: 1.5 (they can be time consuming to make them all the same size and shape, but being meticulous on this step leads to the absolutely perfect little cookie)

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

I have always wanted to try making biscotti. I'm a dunker and there is no more an ultimate dunking cookie than the biscotti.
I had some almonds and cranberries in the house, so this is what I came up with - the Cranberry Almond Biscotti.
They turned out lovely and worked out to be perfect holiday party hostess gifts!

 What You'll Need:

• 1 large bowl
• 1 small bowl
• 1 baking tray
• Hand mixer
• 1 large, sharp knife
• 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose, sifted flour
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• 1/4 cup of light brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 room temperature egg whites
• 2 room temperature medium-sized eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg - optional
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate (for melting over top) - optional
• 1/4 cup flour (for rolling out your dough with)

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 325 F
• Combine all your dry ingredients into your large bowl
• In your small bowl, whisk your egg whites and eggs, vanilla extract and spices until just frothy
• Using your hand mixer at a low to medium speed, add your egg mixture to your dry ingredients and mix until just combined, this will create a large batter ball that will be slightly tacky
• Stir in your almonds and cranberries until evenly distributed in the batter
• On a floured surface, divide your mixed batter into two equal parts
• Pat each half into the shape of a log, ideally a 10-14" log
• Place each batter log onto your baking tray (I cover mine with parchment paper, but this isn't necessary though it does provide easy clean-up!)
• Bake for 30 minutes
• Remove from the oven and let cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the baked batter log is cool enough to handle
• Reduce the oven heat to 300F
• Using our large knife, cut the baked log into 1/2" slices
• Once the oven has cooled, place the cut pieces back onto the baking tray, standing up, and spacing them about 1 inch apart

• Bake for an additional 20 minutes
• While they are finishing being baked, melt your dark chocolate
• Prepare a plastic bag to use to drizzle the melted chocolate onto your biscotti by cutting a small hole in the corner of your bag
• Once the chocolate has melted, spoon it into the bag
• Remove your cookies from the oven and drizzle the melted chocolate on top
• Move your cookies to a cooling rack and let sit and cool

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5
Taste: 2
Ease: 1 (they are not really that hard to make, but cutting them without them crumbling is hard to do at first and they take a while to prepare and dress)