Green Tea Ginger Cookies

This is the ATK Baking Illustrated sugar cookie recipe w/ added ginger and matcha green tea powder.

Ingredients:

2 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp matcha green tea powder (http://www.stashtea.com/w-111855.htm)
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar, plus 1/2 c for rolling dough later
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c candied ginger pieces, chopped fine
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Directions:

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 375.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and matcha powder.
In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars together. Add egg and vanilla. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients. Add candied ginger.
In a small dish, stir together fresh ginger and 1/2 c sugar.
Scoop out dough balls with an ice cream scooper and roll each one in the ginger sugar. Place on cookie sheets and press each ball with the bottom of a measuring cup to make slightly flat.
Bake for 15 mins.

Chewy Chai Tea Cookies

Again I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe... from America's Test Kitchen... a very versatile sugar cookie recipe guaranteed to yield good results. I checked on the contents of "chai tea," came up with a spice blend...

Ingredients:

2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cardammom
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cinammon
2 tea bags of black tea (English Breakfast or Irish) cut open tea bags and grind leaves into a fine powder in a coffee grinder

1 c granulated sugar + 1/4 c more to coat outside of cookies
1 egg
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, spices, and ground tea leaves.
In an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until well incorporated.
Gradually add dry ingredients.
Set aside a small dish with about 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Scoop dough balls out with a small ice cream scoop and roll each one in sugar to coat and place on baking sheet.
Press each ball flat with the bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup coated with cooking spray.
Bake for 10 mins.

Comments:
Everyone agreed that these cookies really do taste like chai tea! A plus: they are soft and chewy, my favorite kind of cookie!!!

Lemon Pinenut Anisettes

*ATK's recipe for sugar cookies with some additions. Also, these can be made without the anise, as plain lemon pine nut cookies.



Ingredients:

2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar + at least 1/2 c for coating cookies
1 egg
grated zest from 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c pine nuts + 1 T for decorating
1/2 tsp anise extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.
Toast pine nuts in a small pan on medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant, a few minutes.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add egg, vanilla, and 3/4 tsp of lemon zest. Beat on medium speed until well combined.
On low speed, add dry ingredients, mix until well combined and add pine nuts.
Make sugar coating: In a small dish, combine 1/2 tsp of anise extract and 1/2 c sugar. Add more anise if stronger flavor is desired.
With a small ice cream scoop or two spoons, scoop small balls of dough and round them with your hands. Roll each dough ball in sugar to coat and place on cookie sheets covered in parchment paper.
Butter the bottom of a drinking glass or 1/4 measuring cup. Press the center of each dough ball to flatten slightly. Press pine nuts into top of cookies.
Bake for 10 minutes.

Apple Candied Ginger Scones

Ingredients:

2 c + 2 tsp all purpose flour
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
grated zest from 1 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 eggs
1/2 c heavy cream
2 apples, peeled, cored and minced
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped candied ginger pieces


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel, core and mince apples, add cinnamon, allspice, and brown sugar.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together sugar, 2 cups of the flour (reserve extra 2 tsp), salt, baking powder, and lemon zest.
With a pastry blender (small hand held wire device: http://www.fabulousfoods.com/school/glossary/tools/pastryblend.html)
cut butter into flour mixture. Set aside when it resembles large crumbs.
In an electric mixer, combine eggs and cream at medium speed until creamy and smooth. Do not whip too much!
On low speed, slowly add dry ingredients until dough is shaggy and lumpy and all flour is incorporated.
On a well-floured surface, knead for about a minute and shape dough into a disk 1.5" thick. With a large knife, cut as you would a pie, into eight pieces. Place on baking sheet and press candied ginger pieces into top of each scone. Add more than the 1/4 c if you like.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 mins or until light golden brown.

Ginger Almond Apple Crisp

Looking for something to do with crystallized ginger?


Ingredients:

6-7 medium apples, peeled and sliced thinly
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 c brown sugar
1T all purpose flour

for the topping:
1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c brown
1/4 c granulated sugar
5 T butter
3/4 c chopped almonds
1/4 c crystalized ginger


Preheat oven to 375.
mix apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, brown sugar, 1 T flour, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Set aside.
To make topping:
In a food processor, combine flour, crystalized ginger, salt, sugar and spices. Pulse for 4-6 seconds.
Add butter and pulse for 10 seconds more. The mixture should look like wet sand.
Add almonds and pulse for a few seconds more.
Place apples in a 9 inch glass pie dish or 2 quart baking dish.
Bake for 45-50 mins.

Cashew Cookies with Ginger Honey Glaze

I revisited the cashew honey milk chocolate idea. It is based on a peanut butter cookie recipe from the Best Recipes (America's Test Kitchen) and I made a honey ginger glaze, which pairs very well with this cookie.
It also works well with milk chocolate chips... add 1 1/2 - 2 c of milk chocolate chips to the recipe if you want it to be chocolaty!


Ingredients:

2 + 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
1 granulated sugar
1 c cashew butter (easy to find in health food aisle of grocery store)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c finely chopped cashews, toasted, cooled to room temp*
1/4 c honey
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

*to prepare the cashews, spread on baking sheet and toast whole cashews for 4 minutes at 350 degrees, then grind in a nut grinder or food processor

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and cooled nuts.
In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together. Add vanilla and eggs. Add cashew butter. Slowly add dry ingredients. Drop onto parchment lined baking sheet with small ice cream scoop. press tops with fork in a criss cross pattern.
Bake for 10 mins, or until golden brown around edges.
Meanwhile, heat honey and ginger together in small saucepan until bubbling.
Dip cookies face first in honey glaze.

Cardamom Pistachio Coconut Cookies

Soft aromatic cookies...

Ingredients:

2c + 2Tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 heaping tsp cardamom

1 + 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled to luke warm
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract


1 c toasted sweetened coconut
1 c toasted chopped pistachio nuts



To toast coconut, spread on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 3-4 mins, or until light brown.
To toast nuts, bake at 350 for 5 mins, or until fragrant. Toast separately.

Directions:

Toast coconut and pistachio nuts. Melt butter. Preheat oven to 325.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cardamom.
In an electric mixer, beat sugars and melted butter together. Add egg, extra yolk, and vanilla.
Slowly incorporate dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
Add coconut and pistachios.

Bake at 325 for 15 minutes.

Gingered Sugar Cookies

This is a variation on the Sugar Cookie recipe in the Best Recipes Cookbook from America's Test Kitchen.

Ingredients:

2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the sugar coating:

1 c granulated sugar
2-4 tsp grated fresh ginger
*depending on how flavorful your ginger is, you may need to adjust the amount of ginger.


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter together. Add egg and vanilla.
On low speed, slowly incorporate flour mixture into wet ingredients.
In a shallow baking dish, stir together ginger and flour.
Scoop dough balls with ice cream scoop and coat with ginger sugar. Place at least 1 " apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Rub butter onto bottom of drinking glass or measuring cup. Press each cookie down to flatten slightly. Dip bottom of glass into ginger sugar mixture before pressing cookies.

Bake at 375 for 10 mins.

Velvety Mexican Chocolate Cookies

Hot & Spicy Chocolate cookies... will be featured on the Bake Guru Application for iPhone/iPod Touch


Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cayenne
3/4 tsp cinnamon

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 sticks of melted butter, cooled to luke warm or room temperature
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For Chocolate Glaze:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
4 T butter
2 T light corn syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. Melt butter and allow to cool to about room temperature.
Meanwhile, whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, cayenne and cinnamon.
In electric mixer, combine melted butter and sugars. Beat until well incorporated. Add egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

On low speed, slowly add dry ingredients. With small ice cream scoop, scoop 2T dough each on ungreased cookie sheets. Covering the baking sheets with parchment paper yields the best results.
Bake for 15 mins or until cookies appear dry and cracked on top.

Make the glaze:

In a double boiler, combine chocolate, butter, and corn syrup. Over low to medium heat, stir until completely melted and combined.
While glaze is still very liquid, drizzle over cookies with a small metal spoon. If glaze begins to harden, simply microwave it on low heat for a minute or two.