I saw Coleen’s post on Monday for her delicious-looking cupcakes, and I could almost taste them! She used molasses, which got me thinking about that dark, almost smoky-sweet flavor. I knew what I wanted – ginger snaps! So I poked around online, found a recipe I liked, modified it for my house, and voila: Whole Wheat Ginger Snaps!
These go great with milk for the kids, or coffee for grown-ups. Heck, get a double dose of spicy and have these cookies with a chai latte! There are plenty of pantry staple spices here, but the two kickers are molasses and candied ginger. Check in the dried fruit section of the store. I keep my candied ginger in the freezer – it will keep indefinitely (and if it’s out of sight, I won’t eat the whole bag in one sitting!) I like to have it in the house because a big bite of it can calm a nauseous tummy.
If you have a cookie exchange this season, wow them with these boldly flavored cookies. Your friends will thank you!
Whole Wheat Ginger Snaps
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (or use 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon finely ground pepper)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 1/4 sticks butter, room temperature
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup candied ginger, minced
Directions:
- First, put the butter in a large bowl and let it come to room temperature. Put the egg next to it.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour with the baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and garam masala.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter with the brown sugar. Mix in the egg and molasses. Add in the minced candied ginger.
- A little at a time, mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Refrigerate for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350*F. On a Silpat liner or parchment paper, scoop out teaspoon-sized balls of cookie dough. These will spread out, so give them some room. I used a melon baller and it worked well. Bake for 13 minutes.
- Let cool on the cookie sheet for a minute, then remove to a wire cooling rack.
- Don’t let the kids see these before dinner or you will be pestered until it’s time for dessert.
Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana
To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!
Dana, I make molasses cookies every year. Most of my grands really like them. I believe I want to try these this year (one of my daughters and I love ginger snaps.) I have unbleached flour. If I use it instead of buying whole wheat, do i need to adjust the recipe in anyway?
Are they pretty spicy?
About how many does the recipe make?
I’m looking forward to making them!!
Clella, I don’t think they’re too spicy. My girls both eat them up. I’d call them flavorful-spicy, not fiery-spicy.
This made about 3 dozen cookies for me.
The amount of flour should stay the same. I think the only difference would be the cookies have a little more texture when you use whole wheat flour – the crumb will be finer if you use regular / unbleached flour.
Let me know how your grandkids like these!