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Every December I get together with my closest group of mom-friends (which originally started as a playgroup over a decade ago!) for a holiday cookie exchange party. We have all been through so much together over the years including that time, back when I was fresh off our real food pledge, I convinced everyone we should exchange homemade "gifty" items instead of cookies. Let's just say that didn't last for more than a year for obvious reasons - ha!
What did eventually change, though, is that instead of bagging up a half dozen cookies for each recipient, we now bring everything on platters so each person can take as many as they want. I usually end up taking more like two of each instead of the standard six or so (times 10 batches of cookies!). It feels like the right balance for us this time of year without having to miss out on any of the fun! Plus you get to sample the cookies when they are out on platters like this - yummy, yummy.
I try to make a different cookie recipe each year so I can share it on the blog. And this year I made Whole-Wheat Ginger Snaps! I'd never made them before and went through a couple of batches before I was satisfied with the results. While I was getting everything out to make the final batch, only two hours before everyone arrived (due to a last minute change, I ended up hosting with only a day's notice!), I realized we were almost out of ginger. Umm, ooops.
I obviously could not make ginger snaps without ginger, so I begged my husband to puhlease run to the store real quick for some ginger while I frantically worked on my appetizer (quinoa cakes) and cleaned up all the mess. A few minutes later, he came back from the store and handed me two bottles of cinnamon. Yes, CINNAMON! I said please tell me this is a joke and the ginger is still hiding in your car somewhere.
At this point, we both just had to laugh because he only wished it was a joke and had to go back to the store AGAIN to get the ginger for real this time. Long story short, my cookies (and appetizer and clean kitchen) were finally ready only a couple minutes before everyone arrived with no time to spare! But I guess that's better than being late or making ginger snaps without ginger - haha. :)
So, without further ado ... here is the recipe!
Whole-Wheat Ginger Snaps
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons ginger
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Pinch cloves
Wet Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter (softened)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons molasses (you will not get the dark brown color without this)
- ⅛ teaspoon orange zest ((optional, but good!))
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, with an electric whisk/beater combine the wet ingredients.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients while mixing until well combined. Stop and scrape the sides of the mixing bowl if necessary.
- Drop the cookie dough by the spoonful (I used a small scoop to make this job easy) onto a large ungreased baking sheet. Flatten each cookie with the back of a spoon or with your fingers.
- Bake until done all the way through, 10 - 13 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and serve.
Suzette says
It's hard to find pastry flour will regular whole wheat work or will the texture change too much?
100 Days Admin says
The texture will most likely change. It will be a more dense cookie if you can't find pastry flour. - Nicole
Becky says
Greetings, thank you for all of your work we love your cookbook! I am not eating sugar right now and I’m just wondering what would happen if I used honey or maple syrup instead of the brown sugar?
Have a happy Thanksgiving,
Becky
Lisa Leake says
You would be replacing a dry ingredient with a wet ingredient so the outcome will be different. Honey is stronger than sugar so you would not need as much. I have not tried the replacement in this recipe myself, but you could definitely experiment! Let us know how it goes.
Laura says
Gingersnaps are my all-time favorite holiday cookie! Thanks for the experimenting so I don't have to :) And I *may* have grabbed a container of paprika at the store instead of the cinnamon once. I haven't lived that down yet.
Lisa Leake says
Haha it's those mistakes we remember the most for some reason!
Shawn says
What about using white whole wheat flour? Similiar result? Love your story and glad it worked out in the end!
Lisa Leake says
You could, but outcome may be a tad more gritty.
Lindsay says
Haven't tried it yet. My recipe has quick 3 min oats, which are in almost all my cookie recipes, for added nutrition
And chewiness. Try adding finely cut crystalized ginger for more chew and zing. Start with a TB or so. I like about a 1/4 c. For 1 1/2 c. Flour.
Funny story, Lisa! Glad you had a good time.
Elana says
This is such a great post! I love the story of the two of you :-)
Blythe says
Are they chewy or hard?
Jason Leake with 100 Days of Real Food says
They are chewy but if you like them crisp you can increase the baking time.
Rhonda @ Change In Seconds says
I will make mine with gluten free flour
Melissa B says
Can it be regular WW flour instead of the pastry?
Lisa says
Yes! I am really loving pastry flour in baked goods these days (reminds me more of white flour), but regular ww flour will absolutely work.