Saturday, January 24, 2015

Rose's Alpha Bakers: Gingersnaps

I skipped last week's Alpha Bakers recipe, Golden Orange Panettone with Chocolate Sauce, because I'm not a fan of Panettone (no candied fruit for me, please!)...however, everyone's loaves look so beautiful and delicious that I may try it another time with orange zest and raisins. Or, I may just go all in and make my own candied orange peel, as did several of the Alpha Bakers.

Moving on to this week of the bake-through adventure with the Rose's Alpha Bakers were the quick and easy Gingersnaps, from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Baking Bible. These cookies were delicious and my British husband declared them very authentic!


lovely crackled gingersnaps

a close-up view

As promised by Rose, the cookies were chewy, not hard and crunchy as some gingersnaps are, and the cookies baked-up with a gorgeous crackly top. Add a cuppa or glass of cold milk and they were the perfect snack.

The only thing missing from the recipe (IMO) was actual, fresh ginger, so I added some! I absolutely love ginger so would have been happy with more, but having never made the recipe before I didn't want to push it. I added about 1 teaspoon. Bakers tip: use a spoon to peel ginger...saves you from worrying about cutting yourself with the knife and you don't lose any of the ginger flesh.

Overall, it was a very simple recipe. Mix up the dry ingredients, melt the Lyle's Golden Syrup and butter, add that to the dry ingredients and stir, then add the eggs and...you're done! Shape into balls and bake. Bonus? The house smelled amazing while they were baking!

Here are my photos:

mise en place...very easy!

peeling my fresh ginger

and grating it...watch your fingers!

I added the fresh ginger into the dry ingredients

the golden syrup and butter are melted together

everything all lined up and ready to mix

adding the golden syrup-butter mixture to the dry ingredients

mix until it looks like sand

add the eggs, mix again, and voila the dough is done!

roll into balls...

...and bake

the smell was amazing!!

enjoy with a nice cup of hot tea


Bye for now...

11 comments:

  1. The colour is lovely isn't it? I'm just about to cook mine but I think I'll leave them for longer so they're more crunchy.

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    1. Can't wait to read what you thought about the crunchier texture. Off to check out your blogpost.

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  2. ב''ה

    I also used fresh ginger but I did not get your lovely large cracks.

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  3. Mine aren't as brown as yours, although the internal temp was correct, per the recipe. Hmmm....no pretty cracks either! However, it is a delicious cookie! I turned a quick and easy recipe into an epic (mis)adventure. Happy baking! --Michele

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  4. I'll have to use fresh ginger the next time I make mine. I love a thin, (mostly) uniform cookie, so I roll out the dough when I use my go-to recipe. That limits the formation of cracks but I get the exact consistency and "snap" that I want in each cookie. I'll definitely try this recipe, though!

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  5. So this is exactly what the British know as gingersnaps? Good to know. I love ginger as well so will try fresh next go around and maybe throw in a bit of candied. Your pictorial is lovely.

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  6. I never though of using fresh ginger! I should make a note in my book to consider it next time I make it. I bet it brightens the flavor. Anyway, your pictures are lovely. It is a great recipe.

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    1. Thanks! I realize now I should have separated some of the dough so I could do a taste test with fresh ginger vs. only the powdered. I do wonder how different they would have tasted. Oh well...next time!

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  7. I love sharing the spoon trick with students in my cooking classes - hardly any waste. Glad to know this recipe passed your husband's authentic radar. We loved them. Great post - hope you'll stop by to see mine.

    Patricia @ ButterYum
    http://www.butteryum.org/roses-alpha-bakers/2015/1/25/tbb-gingersnaps

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  8. Mine end up over crunchy that it is hard..lol! Pretty cookies! Your husband said these are authentic? Then they must be!! Like everyone else, I always think snap..means it's crunchy..

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  9. Your cookies look beautiful! I need to try fresh ginger next time. I've changed the last few recipes, so I was trying to prove that I can follow directions when necessary. :)

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