{Getting things fixed, Lawler-style.}
“The drawbridge of the castle is broken! Can you fix it?”
“Yes. I need a tiny dowel.”
“I have one. Here's a wooden skewer.”
“That's way too big.”
“No, it isn't.”
“It's way too small.”
“No, it isn't.”
“I need to drill into the side of the castle.”
“No! Don't do that! Try putting a spring into the door, like a toilet roll.”
“Oh, sure, a spring. I'll just get a spring. Look, it makes sense to drill the side.”
“I have a spring. Bridget, get a pen. Phil, can you take the dowel out? Don't let it get glued in!”
“That won't be the right size. It's glued in.”
“Yes, it will. Don't let it get glued in!”
“Papa, put the piece in the side, then put the door on the piece.”
“That won't work.”
“Yes, it will. Is that piece glued in??”
“Don't worry about the glue. We have hours.
There. I fixed it.”
“Really? How??”
“Just like you said.”
“You're amazing!”
{ETA: And he did, and he is!}
It's summer, and where you are it might be too hot to bake, but if you're going to bake, you need these cookies.
Obviously, chocolate-chip cookies are the best.
But these cookies are second best. They are Will-approved. Slightly crispy to the first part of the bite, chewy to the rest. Crinkly, you know? As gingery as you want to make them — I make them mildly so.
If they seem not seasonal to you because of the spice, consider how seriously yummy they would be served with sliced nectarines. Not something you can enjoy in November!
Ginger Pillows, Like Mother, Like Daughter
(I adapted this recipe from Chewy Cookies: The Ultimate Comfort Food, a book Rosie gave me long ago that has some good recipes but very quirky and extremely precise, even stern, techniques, just to warn you — I generally just do things the way I always have, like using salted butter, creaming butter and sugar where she has you mixing separately, and other stuff I don't want to do her way. One change I made here is to double the recipe. Even if you don't have a crowd of kids, you should go ahead and make this amount. The cookies freeze perfectly. Their delicate texture isn't as fabulous after two days, not that they'd be around that long.)
1 1/3 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup molasses
Cream the butter and sugar, adding the eggs and molasses and beating well.
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, beat until mixed.
Large crystal sugar for the tops of the cookies (I use Sugar in the Raw, which is brown sugar crystals, because that's what they have at the grocery store for sprinkling sugar)
Drop the cookies by the tablespoon measure (a lot easier in this quantity to do with the scoop mentioned above) onto an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving room for them to spread quite a bit.
You could dip the balls in the sugar one by one, but I just put them on the sheet and sprinkle sugar over with my fingers. The cookies are so sweet that you don't really need the sugar for anything other than looks and a bit of crunch, so they don't need to be sugared all over.
Bake at 350 (340 convection) about 7 minutes, rotating and putting in for another 2 minutes or until the tops have just puffed and cracked. Transfer and cool on a wire rack.
Carol says
They look yummy! And the cookie scoop…I have tried several: the plastic handled scoop which gets stuck after 3 or 4 cookies; the rubbery ended one that you push with your finger to get the scoop out put then your finger goes through it and it stops working before the first dozen are done. But I haven't tried a nice metal one with the trigger thingy that pushes it out. Does it work? Does it get jammed with sticky stuff and need to be cleaned every few minutes?
My latest discovery that makes making cookies much faster is parchment paper for lining the pan. I just lay a whole bunch out on my counter, fill it up till the dough is gone and then cut off pieces to fit my cookie sheets as they are needed. Much faster than filling a cookie sheet at a time.
Elisa says
Where did you find that beautiful castle? 🙂
Nadja says
My sister makes these, and they are DELICIOUS! I need some now…!
Lisa G. says
“We have hours.” Magic words.
Valerie says
Excellent post from beginning to end. (It just kept getting better).
” but if you're going to bake, you need these cookies.” I love this statement.
Jen says
We are huge fans of ginger cookies in our home. I will definitely be making these for my family. Thanks for sharing! I have decided that I don't care how humid and mucky it is here in New England. I am baking and preserving and canning anyway.
Sue in Japan says
These are going on my “to do” list for today. It's amazingly cool and dry for the end of “rainy season” here, but I could wake up tomorrow to 98% humidity (that's with or without rain), so they must be made today! I think you should write a cookbook in exactly the same style as your blog writing. So many people would be encouraged to give new things a try. You make anything sound do-able!!
Esther says
i used salted butter too – always – salt is important!!!
Kate says
Thanks for sharing the cookie recipe! But I too would love to hear where that castle is from!
_Leila says
The castle, for those interested, is like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Deluxe-Folding…
only not pink.
I found mine at Marshall's for $35 and just had to get it — this was maybe 5 or 6 years ago. Maybe more. Melissa and Doug toys are so nice, huh?
If you look for “wooden castle” in toys on Amazon you will see some neat ones. Believe me, it's worth the investment, even not at half price. The children who come here pull out the Playmobil figures (of which we have approximately a zillion: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=sear… go to town, as it were, with that castle.
Faith says
Do you freeze the dough, or the cookies themselves? I wouldn't want to avoid doubling the recipe just because I'm not sure which it is. I've been craving ginger cookies, and the molasses certainly can't hurt when I need to meet my daily pregnancy iron req. I'm excited for these!