Gingernuts

Phew! It's, uh, sorta been a while since I've had a non-Tuesdays with Dorie post, hasn't it? And I hate to admit it to you, but it'll probably be a while before another non-TWD baked good comes around. Let's just say that the last 6 months have been crazy, and the next 6 or so will be equally crazy. Because there's nothing better than quitting my job, moving halfway across the country while moving my belongings halfway across the country in the other direction, finally moving myself to join up with my belongings, starting graduate school, and getting married. All in a 7 month timespan.


Okay, so let's back up - I know I've left many hints about the ol' blog (and many more on Twitter), but here's the deal. I am leaving my job at the end of this month so that I can go to graduate school at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. I'll be going for environmental sciences and engineering, which has also tentatively given me the opportunity to participate in a field study in LA in May and June (between 4 and 7 weeks sans oven - perhaps the second or third circle of hell for me). The next four months or so are going to be crazy, to say the least. Given how much of my spare time was devoted to planning this the last few months, I'm not sure I'll be sane by the end of it.


But hey! At least I can go back to pretending I'm not an adult. Which is why I can officially giggle like a schoolgirl at the idea that I baked "gingernuts." Seriously, don't they sound funnier than gingersnaps? Maybe you shouldn't answer that, especially if you want to pretend to some semblance of adulthood. I, on the other hand, will gleefully giggle as I snack on these cookies. They're like a daintier gingersnap - more crumbly and delicate, but still with that nice punch of ginger and spice. The recipe suggests dipping the cookies in a tempered chocolate, which would probably be fabulous, but I adore spice. Unadorned and in your face. In my opinion, spice doesn't need a complementary flavor. But hey, whatever floats your (non-adult, hopefully) boat!


Gingernuts
(adapted ever so slightly from Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts by Claire Clark)

230 g softened unsalted butter
100 g dark brown sugar
1 medium egg
85 g molasses
250 g all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon

Cream together the butter and sugar just until combined. Don't beat it until fluffy - I did this by hand so that I didn't beat any air into it. Beat in the egg, followed by the molasses.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. She says to sift them three times, but sshh - I just whisked them together. Once. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar, then gently fold them together until they're just combined. She suggests doing this by hand to keep from over mixing. Turn the dough out onto plastic wrap and shape into a log. I made mine rectangular, 1"x1"x I don't know - maybe 10"? Wrap and freeze for two hours.

Preheat the oven to 325*F. Take the dough out and let it sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes before slicing into 1/4" thick pieces. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, spacing them at least 1" apart. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until you can lift them easily from the baking sheet. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.

Makes about 60 cookies.