Candied-Ginger Cookies

I don't know about you, more often than not, I run into a recipe that I really want to try, buy all the ingredients, but never end up actually making it. I tend to veer off course in search of something else that takes my fancy (and sometimes not related at all to cooking). I initially bought some candied ginger from Trader Joes for a biscotti recipe but ended up making some ginger cookies instead.

This recipe is from marthastewart.com's Ginger Cookies with Lemon Glaze. I found that the cookie itself was already tremendously sweet, therefore adding the glaze would be sugar overkill. I made some tweaks to the recipe, leaving out the lemon glaze but still having some lemon zest in the recipe and using Nucoa margarine (for dairy-free goodness) in place of butter.

Instead of refrigerating the dough for an hour, I tossed it in the freezer for 20 minutes to achieve a tougher consistency. Finally, one last tweak to the original recipe that I made was that I did the drop cookie method (rolling the dough and flattening with the back of my hand) instead of using a cookie cutter - I thought the dough was rather too soft and sticky to use a cookie cutter. All in all, the cookies were incredible, and I'm not even a big fan of cookies!

Candied-Ginger Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Salt (omit if using salted butter)
6 ounces (3/4 cup) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped candied ginger
1 large egg
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

Sift flour, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add ginger, and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Add flour mixture, and then beat on medium-low speed until dough just comes together.

Shape dough into two 1-inch-thick disks. Wrap tightly in plastic, and place in freezer for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll into 1-inch balls. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet and flatten with the palm of your hand until it becomes 2-inch disks of 1/4 inch thickness.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are set and edges are light gold, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer parchment with cookies to wire racks. Let cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. (Cookies can be stored for up to 3 days.)