Ginger Spice Cookies

These cookies turned out so yummy! Over the summer I went to Bali and brought back a ton of different spices, one was Cardamom. For the last few months I didn't know what to do with the spice. So, last week I decided to make spice cookies. I found this recipe on Food Network and it turned out chewy, soft and so YUMMY!





*** I left a few ingredients out due to not having them!

Exotic Spice Cookies with Ginger, Cardamom and Rose Water

Recipe adapted from Camilla Saulsbury, Nacogdoches, TX

Ingredients

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger
* 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 large egg
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1 teaspoon rosewater
* 3/4 cup turbinado (raw) sugar, for rolling

Directions

Whisk the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, pepper and salt in a medium bowl until blended. Mix in the crystallized ginger. Set aside momentarily.

In a large bowl beat the brown sugar, butter and shortening with an electric mixer until fluffy (do not overbeat-it will add too much air). Add the egg, honey and rosewater and beat until blended. Stir in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon, mixing until just until blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray 2 cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon the turbinado sugar in thick layer onto small plate. Using wet hands, form dough into 1 1/4-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat completely. Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing 2 to 3 inches apart.

Bake cookies until cracked on top but still soft to touch, about 11 to 13 minutes. Cool on sheets 1 minute. Carefully transfer cookies to wire racks; cool completely.

Z is for Zucchini!


One thing that I love is Zucchini bread! Here is my version of a pretty good batch of zucchini bread. Check it out!

Zucchini Bread
Adapted from several sources

Yield: 2 loaves or approximately 24 muffins

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease one 8x8 pan ( you will have left overs, I made a smaller one for a friend)

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix in oil and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit, if using.

Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans.

Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Root Beer Bundt Cake!


Wow! I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post! How time fly's! For Johnny's birthday last month I made a Root Beer Bundt Cake from Baked. The cake turned out really moist, but I could not taste the root beer, I think it has to do with what kind of root beer is used. Next time I bake I will try with a different brand. Besides it not totally tasting like root beer, it was DELICIOUS!!!