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Lemon/Orange Ginger Cookies

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
As promised. I made a batch of this dough not a half hour ago, and I'll bake them tomorrow. If you have a stand mixer and pre-diced ginger (see below), you can

Lemon/Orange Ginger Cookies

These tasty cookies are simple to make and good year-round. Using oil saves a little work and makes more consistent cookies from batch to batch, but fresh zest does seem to bring a slightly more fresh and complex character.

8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
300 g sugar (1-1/2 cups sugar, less ~2 tbsp)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon oil or orange oil (or ½ tsp each)1
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
300g All purpose flour (or about 2-1/2 cups)
1/2 cup candied or crystallized ginger, finely minced (130-ish g – I actually like 145-150 g)2
1/4 tsp peppermint extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (with convection if you have it).

Cream butter, sugar, salt and baking soda together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time (fully incorporate each before adding the next), scraping down the bowl after each egg is blended fully into the butter. Add lemon/orange oil or zest, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and ginger, and mix until fully incorporated. Add all the flour and mix slowly until the mixture just comes together as a soft, VERY sticky dough.

Dough can be used immediately or refrigerated/frozen (tightly wrapped) until needed.3

Measure out 1 teaspoon portions onto a baking sheet, allowing room to spread (final cookie will be roughly 2-3 inches in diameter). I get about two dozen onto one sheet. You can make the cookies larger, but they probably will be more cake-like than crisp.

Bake until edges are just golden brown and the tops are set (and maybe collapse a bit) (about 5-8 minutes, depending on size and your oven). Rotate the sheet if necessary (especially if you don't use convection). Let cool for a few minutes on the sheet (or until they can be moved without breaking) before transferring to a cooling rack. They are good right out of the oven but really hit their stride once fully cooled. Don't overcook them, or you lose a lot of the citrus and peppermint.

Notes:

1-Can use the zest of 2 large oranges or 4-5 lemons (finely grated) instead of the oil, but the oil is much easier and consistent (but expensive)

2-You can buy very good quality, pre-diced crystallized ginger. That saves a tremendous amount of time and trouble. I would spend up to 45 minutes chopping up ginger. I don't know if I can mention the outfit where I get it, but you'd be nuts if you haven't heard of them.

3-It’s actually a lot easier to work with the dough if you let it firm up in the refrigerator for at least a couple hours or overnight. If it gets too firm to work with, just let it soften up for a few minutes or so after you take it out. I hand roll a chunk of dough into about a 1-inch diameter snake and cut that into roughly 1-inch pieces. Briefly roll each piece into a ball in your hands before putting on the baking sheet.

The dough lasts at least a few days in the refrigerator. I've never frozen it, but I don't know why you couldn't.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
I baked my Christmas batch a little earlier, so I thought I might make this an illustrated guide.

Unwrapping the dough and chunking it up:

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Rolled out into a rope:

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Ready for the oven:

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Finished baking:

20221224_124420.jpg


Cheers, and Merry Christmas!
 
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