Spice up your holiday cookies

UPDATE December 17, 2022 -
I just baked off my Gingerbread Latte Cookies, what a delicious cookie. I loved the coffee/gingerbread flavor. They are a little chewy, but I'm curious to see how they taste tomorrow.

I followed the directions in Vreeland Vaughn's recipe and they came out just as he described. I only prepared half the amount of sugar coating, which was sufficient. I also, used my cookie scooper, which was not a full two tablespoons as he suggested, but the size was perfect. This is a wonderful recipe and a delightful change. A wonderful accompaniment with your favorite hot beverage.
 
I am a subscriber to The New York Times and part of that subscription give me access to their webpage NYT Cooking. I love the variety of contributors to their website as well as the variety of recipes that they showcase.


One of their contributors is Eric Kim, who is a NYT staff writer. One of his recent recipes that caught my eye was for Gochujang Caramel Cookies. It just so happened I had gochujang in my refrigerator and was curious as to what they would taste like. For the recipe you’ll need unsalted butter, dark brown sugar, gochujang, granulated sugar, an egg, kosher salt, ground cinnamon, vanilla extract, baking soda and all-purpose flour. Just a suggestion, I recommend that you click here for a video demonstration by Eric Kim as I found it helpful in making the cookies.

Although these cookies take 45 minutes from start to finish, I recommend that you allow at least several hours extra as you need 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter at room temperature. You’ll see in the video that Eric uses a whisk to stir together 1 tablespoon of butter, brown sugar and gochujang for the caramel. The balance of the recipe comes together quite easily and his directions are very concise.
 
To form the cookies, Eric recommends a 1/4-cup ice cream scoop, mine was slightly less. I was able to make approximately 18 cookies with a smaller scoop.
 
The cookies turned out beautifully. I had nice swirls of caramel through the cookies. However, I missed the point that they needed to COOL COMPLETELY on the cookie sheet, mine rested for several minutes. This explains why when I tasted one, the cookie split in half as it was soft in the center. My husband and I enjoyed the cookies, the had a bit of spice and yet you could taste the sweetness.
 
The next cookie I want to try is also from NYT Cooking’s Vaugh Vreeland and his recipe for Gingerbread Latte Cookies. The main flavor elements in this cookie is espresso, finely grated fresh ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and molasses. The overall comments by other cooks seem positive, so they’re worth a try.
 
On another note, I’m in the process of deciding on what assortment of cookies to make for the holidays. I have a customer that followed me from my last job to my new and I know they love anise seed biscotti so I’ll bake those to share with them. I’m also in the mood for cappuccino and crisp chocolate biscotti. Perhaps some biscotti diPrato would be nice. My daughter was inquiring about cocoa snowflake cookies. I found that recipe on the Penzeys Spices website. These are a chewy, fudgy cookie that is very rich tasting.
 
Lastly, I recently baked another chocolate sugar cookie recipe that I found on the website “Alexandra’s Kitchen.” Alexandra found the recipe in the book, “A Good Bake,” by Melissa Weller. She describes the cookie as being very chocolatey and having a nice chew. These cookies are sweetened with dark brown sugar instead of granulated. While tasty and delicious, the type of chocolate sugar cookie prefer is cakier. ​

​Gochujang Caramel Cookies
By Eric Kim
The New York Times

Yield: about 8 large cookies
Time: 45 Minutes

Ingredients
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons)/115 grams unsalted butter, very soft
2 packed tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 heaping tablespoon gochujang 
1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups/185 grams all-purpose flour

Preparation

1. In a small bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon butter, the brown sugar and gochujang until smooth. Set aside for later, at room temperature.
2. In a large bowl, by hand, whisk together the remaining 7 tablespoons butter, the granulated sugar, egg, salt, cinnamon and vanilla until smooth, about 1 minute. Switch to a flexible spatula and stir in the baking soda. Add the flour and gently stir to combine. Place this large bowl in the refrigerator until the dough is less sticky, but still soft and pliable, 15 to 10 minutes.
3. While the dough is chilling, heat the oven to 350° and line 2 large baking sheet pans with parchment.
4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. In a 3 to 4 spaced out blobs, spoon the gochujang mixture over the cookie dough. Moving in long circular strokes, swirl the gochujang mixture into the cookie dough so you have steaks of orange-red rippled through the beige. Be sure not to over-mix at this stage, as you want wide, distinct strips of gochujang.
5. Use an ice cream scoop to plop out 1/4 cup rounds spaced at least 3 inches apart on the sheet pans (You should get 4 to 5 cookies per pan.) bake until lightly golden at the edges and dry and sent in the center, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating the pans halfway  through. Let cool completely on the sheet pan; the cookies will flatten slightly and continue cooking as they cool. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Click here for a video demonstration by Eric Kim

gochujang_caramel_cookies.pdf
File Size:	56 kb
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Gingerbread Latte Cookies
By Vaughn Vreeland
“20 Cookie Videos That Will Put You in the Holiday Spirit,”
The New York Times, December 8, 2022
 
Time: 35 minutes, plus 2 hours’ chilling
Yield: about 18 cookies
 
For the Cookies:
 
¾ cup/168 grams unsalted butter
¼ cup/22 grams espresso powder
1 tablespoon/17 grams finely grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground clove
½ cup/100 grams granulated sugar
½ cup/107 grams dark brown sugar, packed
¼ cup/80 grams unsulphured molasses
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups/252 grams all-purpose flour
 
For the Coating
¼ cup/50 grams granulated sugar
2 teaspoons espresso powder
½ teaspoon ground ginger

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium. When it begins to bubble and get foamy, remove from the heat and whisk in the espresso powder, fresh ginger, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Scrape the butter mixture into a medium mixing bowl and set aside to cool for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the sugars, molasses and salt to the bowl and whisk vigorously to combine. Add the egg, vanilla and baking soda and continue whisking until the mixture appears smooth and it’s the consistency of thin pancake batter, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and mix until evenly incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days before baking.
3. Heat oven to 375 degrees, with racks on the lower and upper thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Prepare the coating by combining the granulated sugar, espresso powder and ground ginger in a small bowl.
4. Using a 2-tablespoon (1 ounce) scoop, scoop the dough and, using your hands, roll into walnut-size balls. (Alternatively, for each cookie, use a tablespoon measure to scoop 2 tablespoons dough and roll them into a ball.) Toss in the sugar mixture to coat.
5. Place the portioned dough 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake, rotating the sheets on the racks halfway through, until the cookies have spread slightly and appear craggy on the surface, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. (The cookies will flatten once cooled.) These cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 to 5 days (if they last that long).

Tip

• Portioned dough can be frozen in balls, then coated and baked for about 13 minutes.

 
For a video demonstration by Mr. Vreeland, click here

gingerbread_latte_cookies.pdf
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File Type:	pdf

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