Ginger-Doodle Cookies (Gingerbread + Snickerdoodle)

Indecision – gingerbread, or snickerdoodles?  This is a cross between gingerbread and snickerdoodle (crunchy and buttery like snickerdoodle), but spicey like gingerbread.

Pre-heat the oven to 400° F

Prep 3 sheet pans, with parchment.

1.0 Mix Gingerbread Spices

Ingredients:

• 3 tsp   ________________ Cinnamon (ground)
• 5 tsp   ________________ Ginger (ground)
• 1 tsp   ________________ Nutmeg (ground)
• 1 tsp   ________________ Cloves (ground)
• ¹⁄₂ tsp   ________________ Black pepper (ground)

Instructions:

• Put all the ground spices in a contain, with a lid.
• Shake to combine.

1.0 Ginger-doodle Cookies

Ingredients:

• 350 grams (~2 ³⁄₄ Cups)     ________________ All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp   ________________ Baking Powder (aka BP)
• 1 tsp   ________________ Baking Soda (aka BS)
• ¹⁄₄ tsp  ________________ salt
• 16 TBSP   ________________ butter (2 sticks ~ 454 grams, unsalted, room temp.)
• 3     ________________ eggs
• 225 grams (~1  Cup)   ________________ sugar (white sugar)
• ¹⁄₂ Cup   ________________ sugar (white sugar)
• 100 grams (!¹⁄₂ Cup)   ________________ light brown sugar
• 70grams (~¹⁄₄) Cup   ________________ molasses (NOT black-strap)
• 3 TBSP   ________________ gingerbread spices

Instructions:

• Sift together Flour, Baking Powder, and Baking Soda.
• Add half the gingerbread spices into the flour mixture.
• Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle.  Cream the sugar into the butter.
• Add the rest of the gingerbread spices to the butter-sugar mixture.
• Add the molasses to the butter mixture.
• Add the eggs to the mixture.
• Add the dry ingredients in, and beat till just combined.
• Use a disher/spoon thingy, or a tablespoon, to form cookies on the sheets, about a TBSP per cookie.
• Only do 3 cookies across, because they spread a bit.
• Bake for 11 minutes.  Let cool on the pan for a few minutes before moving to a rack to cool.

If you want icing on it – I used Fondant, like this.

Ingredients:

• 500grams  ________________ Sugar (5 Cup)
• 100 grams  ________________ glucose syrup (or corn syrup)
• 100 grams  ________________ water

Instructions:

• Mix sugar, water, in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil
• Add in glucose syrup.
• Heat to 243° F / 117° C then remove from heat
• Sprinkle with cold water to help cool it, and add the optional fondant.
• Cool to 120°F
• Agitate in the pan, mixing it.
• Pour it into the stand mixer, and beat with the paddle attachment.
• It will crystallize and become semi-solid.  The more you mix it, the more dough like it becomes.
• You want it to stay semi liquid, so you can stop before it gets doughy, or you can get it doughy, then carefully reheat it to 100° F
• Spread on the top of the cookies.