The cookies weren't nearly as much work as I thought they would be which is always a plus. And if you put the filling into a piping bag and pipe the filling onto the cookies, filling them is a breeze - speedy with minimal cleanup. If you make them, put about double the filling you see piped on them in the picture below, and make them the night before that way the cookies can soak up some of the filling making them extra moist and delicious.
Recipe from the Best of Fine Cooking magazine - Tailgating 2010
Cookie Ingredients:
- 9 oz (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 6 oz (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
- 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Lemon Cream Ingredients:
- 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
- 6 oz (1 1/2 cups) confectioners sugar
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and vanilla and continue to beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low, slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated, about 1 minute. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
- Put about 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl. Using your hands, roll about a tsp of dough into 1-inch ball. Roll each ball in sugar and arrange about 2 inches apare on the lined baking sheets. Use the bottom of a gladd to flatten the cookies slightly. Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies feel dry to the touch and are beginning to firm up (they'll still feel soft inside), 12-14 minutes. Cool completely on racks.
- Make the lemon cream: with a hand mixer, mix the cream cheese and lemon zest in a medium bowl until smooth. Slowly add the confectioners sugar and continue to mix until smooth.
- Assemble the cookies: pipe filling liberally onto the center of a cookie, top with another cookie, then gently press them. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to two days.
If you want to serve them up pretty, you can put them on a plate with some candied ginger. It adds a nice touch!
I hope you're having an exciting weekend! Filled with friends, family and fun times. I am heading out of town again for work (leaving tomorrow), out to the middle of no where... so blogging may be somewhat intermittent, so please bear with me. :) Hope you enjoyed this post and are inspired to try out these little bits of heaven!
No comments:
Post a Comment