Donna Walsifer
can they be dunked?
My husband occasionally likes to have an iced cold glass a milk and dunk several cookies for a snack. There aren’t many varieties that can be dunked in milk besides chocolate chip, oatmeal or sugar cookies. Biscotti are great for dunking in hot beverages, but not necessarily milk. Is there another cookie out there that can be dunked?
I searched my favorite food websites, Betty Crocker cook book and scoured my recipe files, but nothing really hit me until I found, "Grammy's Spice Cookies," by Claire Will and adapted by Melissa Clark of The New York Times. While reminiscent of gingersnaps, these cookies have the addition of ground cloves giving these cookies an aromatic boost.
For the recipe you'll need unsalted butter, granulated sugar, molasses, an egg, flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, fine sea salt, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, heavy cream or milk and the option of Irish Whiskey. The last four ingredients are part of the icing that goes on the cookies. For my purposes, icing was not needed.
The cookies puffed up nicely in the oven, then gently settled into a flat cookie with a soft center and crisp edge. Keep in mind when baking, these cookies will spread. The first two trays were baked for 12 minutes; the second I reduced to 10 minutes. At 12 minutes, the cookies are a deep brown color. Once cooled, my husband and I sampled them and they were delicious and not overly sweet. The cookies are sturdy enough to stand “the dunk test.” Also, one cook posted that she used them for making ice cream sandwiches…yum!
For the recipe you'll need unsalted butter, granulated sugar, molasses, an egg, flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, fine sea salt, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, heavy cream or milk and the option of Irish Whiskey. The last four ingredients are part of the icing that goes on the cookies. For my purposes, icing was not needed.
The cookies puffed up nicely in the oven, then gently settled into a flat cookie with a soft center and crisp edge. Keep in mind when baking, these cookies will spread. The first two trays were baked for 12 minutes; the second I reduced to 10 minutes. At 12 minutes, the cookies are a deep brown color. Once cooled, my husband and I sampled them and they were delicious and not overly sweet. The cookies are sturdy enough to stand “the dunk test.” Also, one cook posted that she used them for making ice cream sandwiches…yum!
Grammy’s Spice Cookies
Recipe from Claire Will
Adapted by Melissa Clark, “Thanks for the Holiday Desserts,”
The New York Times, “A Good Appetite” column December 14, 2012
Yield: about 3 dozen
Time: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS
1 cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar
¼ cup/60 milliliters molasses
1 large egg
1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons/240 grams all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
3 ¾ cups/460 grams confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk, more as needed
1 to 2 tablespoons Irish whiskey, optional
PREPARATION
Recipe from Claire Will
Adapted by Melissa Clark, “Thanks for the Holiday Desserts,”
The New York Times, “A Good Appetite” column December 14, 2012
Yield: about 3 dozen
Time: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS
1 cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar
¼ cup/60 milliliters molasses
1 large egg
1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons/240 grams all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
3 ¾ cups/460 grams confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk, more as needed
1 to 2 tablespoons Irish whiskey, optional
PREPARATION
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick liners.
- Using an electric mixer, beat 12 tablespoons butter with the granulated sugar, molasses and egg until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly beat in flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
- Shape dough into walnut-size balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake until firm, about 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.
- To make the icing, beat remaining 4 tablespoons butter with the confectioners’ sugar until smooth. (Go slowly so you don’t create a sugar storm.) Beat in the vanilla and enough cream or milk, and whiskey (if using), to make a spreadable frosting. Slather on fully cooled cookies.