Gingerdoodles

If a gingerbread cookie and snickerdoodle had a baby, it would be this cookie. Slightly crispy on the outside from a thin coating of sugar with a chewy and holiday-spiced interior.

Bonus: it can be made in one bowl without a mixer.

Why a gingerdoodle? My favorite cookie growing up was the snickerdoodle, a cinnamon spin on a sugar cookie with it’s tangy signature finish from the cream of tartar. Fast forward to the holiday season, where we often find the gingerbread cookie filling our house with season’s greetings from the warm spices as it bakes. Taking the best of both, this cookie is an addictive addition to any holiday cookie rotation.

Happy Holidays!

ingredients

wet ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 1/4 cup (280 grams) dark brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 50 mL (80 grams) molasses
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

dry ingredients

• 2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)

Cinnamon-sugar for rolling

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

method

1. In a small bowl, mix the granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon until combined. Set aside for when you shape and roll the cookies.

make the dough

1. Melt the butter.
2. In a large bowl, add the melted butter and the brown sugar. Mix until just combined (all of the brown sugar should be wet).
3. Add the egg and whisk until fully combined and smooth.
4. Add the molasses and vanilla extract and mix again until combined.
5. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, cream of tartar, and remaining spices (including the reserved 1 tablespoon of cinnamon) to the bowl of wet ingredients. Using a spatula, mix until just combined. Do not overmix at this stage.
6. Place in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes until the dough is chilled (you want it firm enough so you can roll the dough into balls).

shape/bake the cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a cookie sheet or sheet pan with parchment and set aside.
2. To form cookies, scoop a small amount of dough into the palm of your hand and roll into a ball slightly larger than a ping-pong ball (~32-35 grams each). This recipe should make 22-24 cookies total. If the dough is sticky, then it needs to chill longer after the balls are rolled.
3. Roll each formed ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture from step #1. If you want crunchy sugar crystals on the exterior of the finished cookie, roll the cookie ball a second time in the cinnamon-sugar mixture right before placing on the sheet pan to bake.
4. Place sugar-coated balls on a sheet pan about 3 inches apart (these will spread). On a half-sheet pan, I baked about 8 cookies at a time.
5. Bake in the oven for 12-13 minutes. The cookies may look just set or slightly wet in between the cracks on the top of the cookie; do not over bake. While the cookies bake, place the remaining cookie balls back in the refrigerator to keep them chilled.
6. Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely. They will come out of the oven quite puffy and flatten a bit as they cool. Once cooled, they store well in an air-tight container.

yields

22-24 cookies