Reading about the virtues of ingredients often keeps me in absolute awe when finding out what Mother Nature has created for us, and yet, most of the time we barely know about it.

Ginger is the cure of many illness, yet, it is prominent in arthritis treatment and most of all motion sickness and nausea. Of course, eating a rhizome of ginger isn’t as pleasant as swallowing a pill! And when it comes to food, I could add ginger and its far-away-cousin galangal in pretty much anything, I love it!

The cold season being upon us, I thought interesting to share my recipe of gingersnap cookies. The shortbread will help you survive the harsh winter temperatures, especially if you dare indulging yourself with a scrumptious cup of hot chocolate at the same time!

Gingersnap cookies. A name that I never really heard before. Perhaps because I’m Swiss and French speaking… so Gingersnap sounds more like the name of a cat in a Christmas movie. Nevertheless, I can recall very clearly baking those at home with my Mom, it was a bit different and we simply called them sablé au gingembre and made them with brown sugar and dried ginger powder, but didn’t have any molasses in the recipe. They were really good with that uncommon ginger flavor and so exotic for us, living a world of jam and chocolate in the heart of the Swiss Alps!

What I love about those cookies is the blend of molasses, brown sugar and the sharp sting of ginger that rounds up all the flavors. Usually, we bake those with dessicated ginger powder; it’s practical, fast and easy to measure, but I thought nice to use fresh ginger for a change. There are no massive differences in flavor, but after adapting a little the recipe because of the increased water content from the fresh ginger juice, I’ve found the flavor of the roots to be more round and more pleasant… Much less aggressive than when using the powdered form of the rhizome.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 45 gm freshly grated ginger (including the juice and the flesh)
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 200 gm soft butter
• 130 gm dark brown sugar (I used muscovado)
• 120 gm white sugar
• 70 ml molasses (Also works with dark malt or maple syrup, but gives you a different flavor)
• One large egg
• 370 gm cake flour
• 2/3 of a teaspoon of baking soda (find out more on baking soda!)
• Half a teaspoon of salt

Method

1. Mix the soft butter with  both sugar and mix it well without whipping.
2. Add the molasses and the egg and blend to the butter mixture.
3. Mix the baking soda, salt and flour together and add it to the butter.
4. Finally, add the spices, including the freshly ground ginger.
5. Work it as a dough and store it in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours.
6. Once set, shape rolls of dough of about 3 cm in diameter (it will expand during baking)
7. Roll the tubes of dough into brown or white crystal sugar.
8. Cut slices of about 1 cm thick and place them on a baking tray with silicon paper.
9. Bake at 190 Celsius for about 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.

I love dipping them in hot chocolate or coffee… but be careful, it’s highly addictive! :)

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