Lemon-Ginger Drop Cookies

http://community.jeroxie.com/groups/cookbook-challenge/

The current Cookbook Challenge theme is baked. I chose to make cookies because they are what introduced me to the world of baking, when I was about 8 years old. Also, I already had all the ingredients on hand, and I really didn't want to go to the supermarket to buy anything, haha.
This recipe is from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook, published in 2000. There are so many recipes in this cookbook that sound amazing, but this is the first one I've gotten around to making, mostly because a lot of the recipes call for expensive or hard-to-find ingredients or expensive equipment. This cookie recipe, however, contains only cheap ingredients! It does say to use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, but I don't think that is necessary at all. The dough can easily be mixed by hand or with any kind of mixer with basic attachments.

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 large egg
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

 Preheat the oven to 350F with two racks centered. Line two baking sheets with parchment; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl twice. Add the egg; mix on high speed to combine. Add the zest; mix to combine.


In a bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, salt, and crystallized ginger; add to the butter mixture; mix on medium-low speed to combine, about 20 seconds.

Using two spoons, drop about 2 teaspoons of the batter on the prepared baking sheet; repeat, spacing them 3 inches apart.

Bake for 7 minutes. Sprinkle the cookies with sugar, rotate the sheets between the oven racks, and bake until just golden, about 7 minutes more. Slide the parchment with the cookies on it onto a wire rack; let cool 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Cardamom Butter Cookies

http://community.jeroxie.com/groups/cookbook-challenge/

The current Cookbook Challenge theme is Spice. I love sweet spiced food, with spices such as cinnamon, clove, allspice, and nutmeg. Cardamom is a spice that I only recently started using, so I was excited to try these cardamom butter cookies.

If you go to your average supermarket and grab a bottle of cardamom off the shelf, you may be shocked at the price. This recipe calls for a lot of cardamom (5 1/2 teaspoons total), so you will probably want to see if you can find it cheaper. I'm lucky enough to have a low-price supermarket that carries many items in bulk. They have ground cardamom for about 10 US dollars a pound. I got enough to fill a medium-sized bottle and it only cost me 50 cents! If you don't have any supermarkets nearby that have spices in bulk, try looking in specialty markets, such as ones that would carry Indian or European foods. They may have cardamom in bulk, sold in bags, or in regular bottles at a fraction of the average supermarket price.

This recipe is from The Complete Cookie Book by Elizabeth Wolf Cohen, published in 1994.

It makes about 2 dozen cookies.

2 cups cake flour or all-purpose flour

4 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup sliced or flaked almonds

 To decorate:

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 tsp cardamom

sliced or flaked almonds (optional)

Notes: The recipe says to use cake flour, but I used all-purpose because I didn't feel like buying cake flour just for this recipe, and all-purpose flour is called "all-purpose" for a reason! Also, I thought sliced or flaked almonds would be too big for the cookies, so I bought slivered almonds and then put them in a storage bag and ground them up with a rolling pin.

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 2 large baking sheets. Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, cardamom, and salt.

 In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy, 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. On low speed, gradually beat in flour mixture until well-blended; then stir in almonds.

 Into a small bowl, sift together confectioners' sugar and cardamom. Using a tablespoon, scoop out dough and roll into 1 1/2-inch balls. Drop balls one at a time into sugar-spice mixture, rolling to coat well.

 Place 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Dip bottom of a glass into sugar mixture, and flatten cookies to 1/2-inch thick rounds. Press 2 or 3 sliced or flaked almonds onto tops of cookies.

Vader enjoys helping out in the kitchen whenever he can.

 Bake cookies until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes (12 minutes ended up being a minute or two too long in my horrible electric oven), rotating baking sheets from top to bottom shelf and from front to back halfway through cooking time. Remove baking sheets to wire racks to cool, 2 to 3 minutes. Then, using a thin metal palette knife or spatula, remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.