Gingersnaps- Trader Joe's Copy Cat recipe - from the Bowman Family Favorites Family Cookbook (2024)

Category:

Category:

Ingredients:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups (12.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 Tbs butter (unsalted is preferable)
2 Tbs ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground black pepper (freshly ground is best by far)
Pinch cayenne
1 1/4 cups packed (8.75 ounces dark brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 Tbs finely grated fresh ginger
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
Crystalized ginger, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

Directions:

Directions:

Prep tip: Peel fresh ginger with a cereal spoon. What it takes 10 minutes to peel with a paring knife takes 30 seconds to peel with a spoon. The spoon basically rubs off the papery outside instead of trying to somehow cut off a really fibrous outside layer of ginger to get rid of the skin.

1. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in bowl. Set aside.

2. Heat butter in 10-inch skillet (NOT nonstick) over medium heat until melted. Lower heat to medium-low and continue to cook, swirling pan frequently until milk solids begin to brown (2-4 minutes). Quickly transfer butter to a large bowl (scrape the pan).

3. (To the butter), whisk in ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and cayenne. Let cool slightly (2 minutes). Add brown sugar, molasses, and fresh ginger. Whisk to combine. Add egg and yolk. Whisk to combine. Add flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Cover dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (about 1 hour).

4. Adjust oven rack to middle of oven. Preheat to 300 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Put sugar in a small dish. Divide dough into heaping-teaspoon-sized portions and roll into 1-inch balls. Roll about 10 at a time. Put 10 balls into sugar and roll them around until completely coated in sugar. Evenly space dough balls on cookie sheet (about 20 per sheet). Press 2-4 cubes of crystalized ginger into each dough ball.

5. Bake for about 25 minutes, rotating after 15 minutes. (This will vary- use your judgement.) Bake until cookies darken around the edges. Remove from oven. Slide parchment paper with cookies on it onto a cooling rack until cookies set and are hard.

*Cookies store at room temp in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks. They also freeze well once baked.

*Dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Let frozen dough thaw overnight in refrigerator, and then let dough stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before forming cookies and baking.

Number OfServings:

Number OfServings:

about 80, 1 1/2-inch cookies

Personal Notes:

Personal Notes:

These are small, crunchy gingersnaps. NOT the larger softer molasses cookies also known as gingersnaps.

When we moved to the Bay Area where Trader Joe's stores are ubiquitous, I discovered an amazing "triple ginger" snap cookie. They have little chunks of crystalized/candied ginger throughout them and are DELICIOUS. The problem is, I'd buy a container and Lincoln and I seriously lost all self-control. They are delicious and addicting. The other problem is, in the humid air here, they quickly lost their snap.

I decided it would save me money, time, and the grief of soggy cookies if I could come up with a suitable copy cat recipe. That way, I could bake some and freeze the dough to ration myself and prevent the cookies from spoiling. Turns out, adding crystalized ginger to an America's Test Kitchen recipe made an even snappier, spicier, tastier cookie than I found at Trader Joe's.