Triple Ginger Cookies

This post was going to be all about the mouth-watering jalapeño-watermelon gazpacho I made last week, but that recipe now feels two months too late. At last, it’s autumn….even if it doesn’t quite feel like it yet.

I’ve been helping with the harvest on a vineyard for the past week and a half, and while it can be blazing hot out in the field, once you pass midday, a cool wind starts up, and the handful of leaves already changing color makes you eager for the coming months.

Autumn means so many beautiful things – amber-colored leaves that shatter under your footsteps, a cool breeze that demands retrieval of one of those scarves you’ve pushed to the back of your closet, switching your coffee order from iced back to hot, and – possibly most importantly – turning on your oven without sweating bullets. And hey, you may have to slowly dig out your sweaters, but you still get to wear your sunnies!

What to whip up to celebrate the changing of the seasons?

Enter: Triple Ginger Cookies.

These cookies felt a little premature given that I had to

put sunscreen on today, but I decided to add lots of fresh ginger, giving them the zing they needed to make them a wonderful “transitioning-seasons” cookie. We have three forms of ginger in these babies: powdered, freshly grated, and candied. Triple ginger, triple POW. Give ‘em a try!

Here’s what I did:

Triple Ginger Cookies

In a large mixing bowl, beat together until just combined:

¾ c. (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 c. packed light brown sugar
¼ c. molasses
1 egg, at room temp
¼ c. freshly grated ginger

In a different bowl, whisk together:

2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. cloves
1 tsp. salt
¼ to 1/3 c. chopped candied ginger (or ginger candy chews)

Add the dry ingredients to the wet until the flour is just incorporated. Press the dough into a large disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the dough after it has chilled, and scoop out cookies in 1-2 tablespoon-scoops (depending on how you like them). Roll the dough into balls and space on a buttered cookie tray. Bake for about 15 minutes, until they’re just browned on the edges, soft-looking in the middle, and just begin to crack on top. Cool on a cooling rack and enjoy!

And check out more fall recipes over at Fiesta Friday!