Crisp Gingersnaps

Before you start

A gingersnap should break with a clean crack. To get there, these cookies are small, rolled thin and baked until dry all the way through. Most of the sugar is white, which crisps as it cools, with just a few tablespoons of molasses for color and flavor. A pinch of black pepper adds a lingering heat that makes the ginger seem stronger.

The bake is longer than for a chewy cookie, and that is the point: moisture must cook out. The cookies are still slightly soft when they come out of the oven and firm up on the rack. They keep for weeks in a tin and are sturdy enough to crush into a crust for cheesecake or pumpkin pie.

Ingredients

• Dough250 g (2 cups, spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• ¼ tsp finely ground black pepper
• ½ tsp fine salt
• 115 g (½ cup) unsalted butter — softened
• 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
• 60 g (3 tbsp) unsulphured molasses
• 1 large egg
• Coating50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar

Method

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, pepper and salt.
2. Beat the butter and 200 g sugar on medium for 2 minutes. Add the molasses and egg and beat until smooth.
3. Mix in the dry ingredients on low just until combined. Cover and chill for 30 minutes so the dough is easy to roll.
4. Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and line the sheets with parchment. Roll the dough into 15 g balls (about 2 teaspoons) and coat each in sugar.
5. Set 15 balls on each sheet, 5 cm (2 in) apart. Flatten each to about 6 mm (¼ in) with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.
6. Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 14 minutes, until the cookies have spread, cracked on top and look dry and evenly deep brown. They will still bend slightly when hot.
7. Cool on the sheet for 2 minutes, then move them to a rack. They crisp completely within 15 minutes. If any stay soft, return them to the oven for 2 minutes.

Tips for success

• Smaller is crisper. If you make larger cookies, flatten them more and bake longer so the centers dry out.
• Bake a test cookie first to check how your oven handles them, then adjust the time.
• Keep them away from soft cookies or bread in storage; they absorb moisture and lose their snap.

Substitutions

Butter

Replace 30 g of the butter with vegetable shortening for an even crisper, lighter cookie with slightly less butter flavor.

Black pepper and allspice

Use ¼ tsp ground cloves instead for a more traditional, less peppery flavor.

Molasses

Golden syrup gives paler, milder cookies with a toffee note. They brown faster, so start checking at 10 minutes.

Variations

Gingersnap crumb crust

Crush 150 g cooled gingersnaps into fine crumbs, mix with 60 g melted butter and a pinch of salt, press into a 23 cm (9 in) pie plate and bake at 175°C (350°F) for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool before filling.

Chocolate-dipped gingersnaps

Dip half of each cooled cookie in 150 g melted dark chocolate and set on parchment until firm.

Troubleshooting

Gingersnaps are chewy, not crisp

They were underbaked or made too large. Bake until evenly brown and dry-looking, keep the balls at 15 g and cool on a rack.

Cookies spread into one another

The dough was too warm or the balls were too close. Chill the dough and leave 5 cm between cookies.

Bitter, scorched taste

They baked too long or the oven runs hot. Use an oven thermometer and remove them as soon as the color is even.

Storage

Store in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to 3 weeks. If they soften, recrisp at 160°C (325°F) for 5 minutes. Baked cookies freeze for up to 3 months.

Safety notes

Do not eat raw dough; it contains raw flour and raw egg. Contains wheat, egg and milk.