Ginger Shortbread Cookies - with crystallized ginger

I've been making these shortbread cookies for years and they are one of my favorite, so I thought I would bring this post back for the holidays. Some people are bothered by having to let them set in the fridge for awhile, but it works well for me. I have also put half the recipe, or one log in the freezer and pull it out at a later time when you want some fresh baked yummy cookies.

I love the buttery goodness with a delicate ginger flavor, and a little bite from the crystallized ginger throughout! I use a little more ginger than the original recipe calls for, but I love ginger. You don't want to use too much because it will throw off the balance of the buttery shortbread.

These are perfect to enjoy with a nice steamy cup of tea or coffee!


Ginger Shortbread Cookies
 Bon Appétit March 1997

yield: 36 cookies

These delicate, buttery cookies are nice with a cup of tea or coffee.

2 1/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coarsely chopped crystallized ginger (I used a little more about 1/3 c)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Additional powdered sugar (optional)

Combine flour, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, ground ginger and salt in medium bowl. Combine crystallized ginger and 1 tablespoon sugar on work surface; chop finely.

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until light. Add lemon peel and extracts. Beat in crystallized ginger mixture. Beat dry ingredients into butter mixture in 4 additions.

Transfer dough to floured work surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into 6-inch log. Shape each log into 2x1x6-inch-long rectangular log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets. Cut each dough log into 1/3-inch-thick cookies. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart (cookies will spread slightly during baking). Bake cookies until edges are pale golden, about 24 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 3 minutes. Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to racks. Sift additional powdered sugar over warm cookies, if desired. Cool completely. (Can be made ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.)

Biscoff Type Cookies

The weather is getting a little fall-like for us in south Florida...cooler nights and mornings. I actually had to wear a light jacket to work the other day, but then I can wear it when I get out of work, the sunny day warms it up. We are back in the 80s for the weekend. I wish we could send our warm dry weather up to the east coast and help to dry out what Sandy left behind.
 
We still have our AC off and are able to open up the house, so it's a nice time to bake. I am a big fan of shortbread cookies, as I'm sure you can see by the cookie recipes that I have on the blog. I guess because they are not all that sweet, but you gotta love the butter! And I am a big fan of the Biscoff cookies, you know the kind you get on the airline flights. Such a nice light crisp texture with cinnamon and spices. Perfect with tea or to dunk in your coffee.

I found a knock off recipe that is pretty close, if not spot on it was still delightful to eat.

BISCOFF COOKIES
(Slightly adapted from)The Art Of The Cookie

2 cup.. all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I used Vietnamese Cinnamon )
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, spices,baking soda and salt together; set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on low speed, cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar together. Add the vanilla extract.

Gradually blend the flour mixture into the butter mixture.

Press the dough evenly into the bottom of a 9x13 greased pan.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 25 minutes (I went 25 min), or until golden brown around the edges. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Store in an airtight container. Well-wrapped shortbread may also be frozen.

I didn't have any of my homemade vanilla left, but I had some vanilla beans, and coffee beans soaking in some vodka (I'm planning on making some Kahlua) no sugar added yet, so I used this instead, and it came out fine...no coffee flavor.

I used my medium bar pan 8.5 X 11.5 and it was a little thick. I think next time I'll use my large bar pan and make them thinner. I tried to make a design in them but it was too soft, maybe if I put it in the fridge first my cookie press would of worked better.

It has a nice crumb, and slightly crisp, and oh-so-good! They didn't last long. I brought some into work, and was asked for the recipe by several. They seem to be pretty picky there, especially if it's not chocolate.

I used parchment paper and of course didn't grease the pan, but I really don't think it was needed. I also don't think I would need to grease the pan using my stoneware pan, with all that butter it won't stick to that.

So pleasant to be able to sit outside again, and enjoy the weather...it's like room temperature.

Matcha (Green tea) Shortbread Cookies

I just wanted to say that I am not a big fan of St Patrick's Day food. I have never liked corned beef and cabbage. When I was a kid I thought corned beef reminded me too much of ham (which I never liked). Cabbage just smelled funny and I never understood how any one could like it (through a child's eyes). I now eat cabbage and enjoy it ever since I've seen Ina Garten make it this way on Food Network's The Barefoot Contessa.

So simple...just melt a little butter in a pan, add some sliced cabbage, sprinkle with some sea salt and saute until tender...

...and enjoy! That's it! That's all there is to it, none of this boiling it to death...the best thing is...it is so yummy like this. And for corned beef, I do eat it on Ruben sandwich.


As for the green tea cookies, here's the story. It is my Saturday to post on Our Krazy Kitchen, and since my segment is Cultural Connections I thought "oh no they'll probably expect something Irish". Then the other day I was reading the Mountain Rose news letter (I get many of my organic herbs from there) and they had a recipe for Matcha Shortbread Cookies on the Mountain Rose Blog so I thought these would be perfect for my post, at least they are green!



Matcha or green tea powder is used in many recipes across the board...I've seen it used in pasta, cakes, breads and many cookies, including shortbread cookies. I first bought the green tea powder meaning to add it to drinks and such to help incorporate this healthy tea into my diet. Well to be honest, green tea is not one of my favorite drinks. So the ideas have been collecting for other ways to use it. I was able to find it in my local Asian market, I also saw it at Whole Foods, so I know you shouldn't have much trouble finding it.



I made half a batch just to see if I would like it, so here is my "half" recipe that I adapted from Mountain Rose Blog
they made them with a vanilla bean glaze, but I didn't want it that sweet.

Matcha Shortbread Cookies

1 cup organic flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup organic powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons organic matcha powder
1 stick (1/2 cup) organic unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (my homemade)

Directions:
Sift the dry cookie dough ingredients together in a small bowl. In a batter bowl, whip the softened butter until just smooth. Add the vanilla extract to the butter and then combine with all of the dry ingredients. Flatten and shape the dough into a disc. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for about an hour in the refrigerator until firm.

Lightly flour your work surface, as well as the top of your dough, and roll out to about an 1/8”. Cut rolled dough with your favorite cookie cutters and place them on parchment paper lined baking sheets. They don’t expand much at all, so don’t worry about creating lots of space between the cookies. Bake them in a preheated oven at 325°F for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden at the edges.

My Notes: I really liked them, so tasty and good, they did have a strong green tea flavor, but if you don't like that and want to cut back on the matcha powder add in a little more powdered sugar. I think that I had it in the refrigerator for too long because it was so hard I had to wait a while for it to be soft enough to roll out. By the time I had them on the baking sheet they were a little too soft, but they still tasted good. I think next time I won't roll them so thin, or you could shape it in a log and just slice them after refrigerating off from that to make the cookies.


I had a friend tell me once that you shouldn't point out your mistakes, then everyone will think you planned it that way. Well I would do that if I was serving it to people...but here on my blog I want to let you know and learn from it hehehe or not! Okay so here it is, I thought the cookies ran a little because it was too warm, but to tell the truth I used regular organic sugar and not powdered sugar...I even asked myself how odd it was that they didn't use powdered sugar in shortbread, but no, I read it wrong and yes it called for powdered sugar, I imagine it would work better the way the recipe reads. :) But I must say...they were still good!


I'm on spring break so we were able to go see sunset a couple of times this week.


I never get tired of seeing the sunset over the Gulf. We met some people from Maine that were so impressed with seeing the sunset over the water like this. She said there are not too many places that you can see this. I never thought of it like that before. I grew up in Michigan and we spent the summers on the coast where we saw one beautiful sunset after another over Lake Michigan which looked like the Gulf, then I lived in Hawaii and enjoyed such beautiful sunsets as well. I realized how lucky we are to enjoy such amazing sunsets when ever we wish.

Really no matter how you look at it...


...from every angle...

So that is why I like to share them with you all! :D

This recipe joined in on Bake with Bizzy and playing along with #greenslove@ Ms Pensamientos

Another Cookie revisited and sharing some Christmas

I first posted these cookies two years ago, I was looking for a gingerbread that used crystallized ginger...just like I had bought when I was up in the Lake District in England years before. I never found that gingerbread recipe or any that came close, but I did find this ginger shortbread that soon became a favorite of mine. I like the buttery flavor of the shortbread, then you get that little gingery kick when you bite into a piece of the candied ginger. I did increase the amount just a touch, you don't want too much or it could over power the buttery shortbread. I make these for Christmas, but have froze one of the logs and pulled it out later to use at another time! Thought I would bring them back and share with my new friends.

These delicate, buttery cookies are nice with a cup of tea or coffee.

Ginger Shortbread cookies
Bon Appétit March 1997
yield: 36 cookies

2 1/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coarsely chopped crystallized ginger (I used a little more about 1/3 cup)
1 tablespoon sugar (for chopping the ginger)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Additional powdered sugar (optional)


Combine flour, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, ground ginger and salt in medium bowl. Combine crystallized ginger and 1 tablespoon sugar on work surface; chop finely.

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until light. Add lemon peel and extracts. Beat in crystallized ginger mixture. Beat dry ingredients into butter mixture in 4 additions.

Transfer dough to floured work surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into 6-inch log. Shape each log into 2x1x6-inch-long rectangular log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets. Cut each dough log into 1/3-inch-thick cookies. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart (cookies will spread slightly during baking). Bake cookies until edges are pale golden, about 24 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 3 minutes. Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to racks. Sift additional powdered sugar over warm cookies, if desired. Cool completely. (Can be made ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.)



I also wanted to share little Christmas with you. I received this card from Mrs Yoder's class. She had emailed everyone at school that was chosen to get a card and handcrafted ornament (I left the ornament hanging at school) from her class explaining that her writing prompt was for everyone to choose a person that they think was helpful and write a letter to them.



Miguel chose me and here is my letter. I just love gifts like these, my favorite and they are always cherished. (But I don't help the kids get hurt, just help when they do...hehe)


I have been trying on some new wings on the shell angels that I make. Here is some nylon tulle instead of the feathers.


and this is the one with some wired sheer ribbon with snowflakes on it. I think I will double it next time.


First attempt on making a character ornament...reminds me of the shell figure my grandma used to get when she lived in Clearwater. I think the slice shells that I used for the antler would make good angel wings too. This was a gift to one of the diabetic students that I see everyday...he helped me decide what to do for the ears. I think he liked it.


a different way to display the sea urchins other than my jellyfish and placing them over the little bulbs.


This was so delicate, some liked it better without the pearl trim.

There you can see the sea urchin over the light.

I dropped my daughter off at Cha Cha Coconuts at St Armand's Circle so she could meet a friend for lunch. Such a fun place to visit and shop...especially around the holidays!


Okay I had to sneak a shot of my favorite owl that I bought at Pier 1 . I gave a few away as gifts, but they all have such personality it was difficult to part with. The rest of the photos are just more of the ornaments that I made, except the snowman...he came with the owl. I sold quite a few this year. So if you just want to skim past them I understand.















I finally caught something, and have been feeling miserable for the last couple of days...I don't get sick!!! I work around sick kids all day, the nurse caught something and so did my husband...I was bound to, but I have not been sick for quite sometime now at least two years...like with a cold or flu that is. I just get allergy related things. Well at least I didn't miss any work...I have two weeks of Christmas break, and I still can't seem to get things done.

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

I have this big cookie cookbook, I bought it with the idea of baking some during the holidays, but I didn't figure it would be the summer holiday! I wanted to bake something with Maranda before the summer vacation was over. We kept meaning to, but then something always came up... I made her do most of the work, hehehe

Now to give you an idea how huge this cookbook is, it's called 500 Cookies, Biscuits, & Bakes by Catherine Atkinson, it has tons of cookies, bars, slices, meringues, puffs, scones, biscuits and much more. It is almost like walking into a large home improvement store, a little overwhelming to choose. So I put Maranda to work. She narrowed it down to three: these, Rich Chocolate Cookie Slice, and Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches (which we will probably end up making all three). We decided on these just because I had all the ingredients all ready and we could start as soon as the butter reached room temperature!


The chocolate spread that I had was Cappuccino & Chocolate Israeli Chocolate spread. Yum it was so good on top of these cookies.

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies from 500 Cookies, Biscuits, and Bakes

1/2 c unsalted butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (heaping) rolled oats
6 tablespoons chocolate spread

Preheat oven to 350°F lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

In a bowl, beat together butter and sugar until creamy.

Add the egg and beat well. Sift over the flour, cocoa, and baking soda and stir to combine. Add the rolled oats and mix well.

Using your hands roll spoonful of mixture into balls, and place on cookie sheets giving them room to spread. Flatten slightly.

Dip thumb in flour and press into center of each cookie to make an indent. Bake for 10 minutes. Leave for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

Spoon chocolate spread into the center of each cookie.

Edited to add: I used a scoop to plop them on the baking sheet, I couldn't see rolling them into balls. (that's why they don't look perfectly round). My husband said they reminded him of the refrigerator cookie that his mom made. I thought the texture was a little too soft and the oats tasted raw (like a refrigerator cookie would taste) I followed the recipe as written, but I think something was missing. I'm not a good enough baker yet to make my own adjustments like I would a savory dish I am cooking!

I was watering my plants the other day and saw the ginger has flowered...it was all tucked away in the backyard.

and here is one of the turmeric plants that I planted in the ground. The one in the pot is the biggest right now. I'll make sure to get a photo of that one next.

Toasted Coconut Ginger Blondies

Ever since I won a large jar of organic virgin coconut oil, I have been using it often, for my skin, hair and cooking. There are a lot of health benefits with using coconut oil. You should really check it out. Then I won some coconut cream concentrate, and have been enjoying it on my toast in the morning with some almond butter. Now I am really getting into coconut lately, and just bought 2lb bucket of coconut flakes.


I was checking out Tropical Traditions free coconut recipes so I can find many new ways to use the ingredients. I found these Toasted Coconut Ginger Blondies that use coconut oil and the coconut flakes, then adding my other favorite crystallized ginger. I like the way they have the recipes organized because you can search them by what they use, next I am checking out some of these recipes using the coconut cream concentrate. I mean they have everything from Coconut Chai Smoothie, Coconutty Creamy Grits, to Spicy Coconut Fish Recipe, with many more in between.

Now you know that I'm not much of a baker, so I was cautious trying to follow the recipe so I wouldn't have failure on my hands. I was making these to bring along when we went to visit my in-laws. Of course I still had to make a few changes...I didn't add as much crystallized ginger even though I'm a ginger fan, not everyone is, so I toned it down just a little, then I thought a tablespoon of vanilla was a lot, I used less then added some coconut extract, and ground ginger, and as always less sugar, then added a few chocolate chips. That's it!

Ingredients:
1 cup sifted flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger (called for 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup butter, or coconut oil, (I used coconut oil and a little coconut cream concentrate)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar ( it called for 3/4 cup)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract
1/2-1 cup flaked unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 baking pan with extra fat of choice.
Sift the sifted flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together into a small bowl. Stir in the crystallized ginger.
Melt fat of choice gently . Whisk in brown sugar, mixing well. Let cool slightly if warm.
Whisk egg, vanilla and coconut extract into the sugar mixture. Mix in flour mixture in stages until well combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Spread batter into prepared pan and sprinkle flaked coconut on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes.


I've never made blondies before so I wasn't sure how they were supposed to look going into the pan. I really had to spread the batter in there! It was more like a cookie dough.

It came out okay, but I was wondering about 1/8 tsp baking soda? Why bother? I don't know if I measured that little of an amount correctly. What would have happened if I added 1/4 tsp?

They were so good and I think it still had enough ginger with the smaller amount, yet still had a nice ginger bite to it. My daughter even liked it.

My pan was a little larger than 8"X8" by a half inch 8.5 x 8.5 and the were a little flat, but no big deal. I think maybe next time I will use a smaller pan though. They sure smelled good when they were baking in the oven.

The chocolate chips were a nice touch! The bars were such a big hit they didn't last long. I didn't get to save one for breakfast!

Poppy Seed Pinwheel Cookies

A little while back I went to Geier's Sausage Kitchen to shop for some ingredients for my Feijoada. While I was there I found all sorts of goodies, one was a tub of poppy seed filling, I was wondering what I could do with it. I spotted some poppy seed strudel for sale in the deli/bakery case. So I picked some up thinking I would find some way to use it. I was thinking about using puff pastry to try and make a strudel, but then saw some spiral cookies with poppy seed. It seems Eastern European countries like poppy seeds and all seem to have a version of cookies that they make. From Kolache, pinwheels, logs and just mixed in the cookies. Sooo....after some research this is what I made.

Poppy Seed Pinwheel Cookies

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened or 1 stick
-1/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 tsp grated lemon peel
-1 large egg
-1 Tbsp sour cream
-1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp ground cloves
-1 tsp vanilla (I used my homemade vanilla extract)
-*Poppy seed filling ¾ cup ( I bought mine made at the German Store and used the whole tub)

*You can use canned or make your own, I bought mine at Geier's Sausage Kitchen a German meat market and food store. Or you could make your own, here are a couple of recipes:
•1/2 cup milk
•1 Tablespoon honey
•1 cup ground poppy seeds
•2 Tablespoons sugar
•1 teaspoon ground allspice
or:
1 cup poppy seed
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup chopped dates
1/3 cup chopped nuts
Dash of cinnamon

Make the Dough:
With an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, egg, and sour cream in a large bowl. Stir in the flour, salt, cloves (I added a little mace to mine too) and lemon zest to make a soft dough. (The dough may be made ahead and refrigerated covered, for up to two days.) I wanted to say I had to make mine by hand because my electric mixer burned up making my molasses gingerbread cookies. I can be done!
I don't think my dough was stiff enough, but I rolled it in between two sheets of waxed paper into a...err...rectangle..


... which is easier said than done, so I adjusted it with a a little cut and paste.

Then spread the filling on, which went on quite easy. Yes, it's not the neatest, but you can get picky with yours if you like. This photo is with a flash...

and this one without, it was after dark when I made it and it's so hard for me to get good shots in the dark! :D

When you roll it up start to peel back the waxed paper as you go. You can use parchment paper instead if that's what you have. Some suggested to refrigerate before rolling...

At this point I tried to cut the cookies and the dough was just too soft, the end just mushed. So I refrigerated it for a bit until it was easier to cut. When you are ready, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Then cut roll into ½-inch slices and arrange them about 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets (or just use your stoneware jelly roll pan like I do). Bake for about 10 minutes or until edges are light brown.

Cool pinwheel cookies on baking sheets for a couple of minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar before serving if desired.

See that end piece? These are great because you can get a taste to see how they turned out without wasting a good one! Mmmm....

These got a little too brown, but I liked them like that...they were still good. I'm sure with more practice I can get them right. I will definitely be making these again.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! Cheers!