Eat Healthy Ginger Cookies

Just when I thought I was doomed to have flat cookies forever, it happened. I got my thick and chewy cookies!

It could be because there's no eggs in this recipe. Instead, an equal volume of milk is substituted, hence there's less fat in these cookies. Less fat means less spreading in the oven, or so I've heard. It could also be because I also increased my baking temperature to 375F in hopes of getting the cookies to set quicker before any spread could occur. But, whatever the reason, these cookies puffed in the oven, stayed puffy even after cooling, and resulted in yummy bites with that cakey chew that I so long for.


Plus, these cookies have a ton of ginger powder in them and very little amounts of other spices, so the ginger flavor really shines through. At the same time, it is not at all overpowering.

I'm glad I got to try these neat little cookies because they turned out great!


Ultimate Ginger Cookies (Eat Healthy Your Way)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1⁄2 tablespoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
• 1⁄2 cup canola oil (I used butter)
  
• 1⁄4 cup molasses
• 1⁄4 cup soymilk (I used regular milk)
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
  
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1⁄4 cup turbinado sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt into a medium bowl. Combine granulated sugar, oil, molasses, soymilk and vanilla in a large bowl with a whisk or electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in crystallized ginger and fresh ginger. Then stir in the dry ingredients until well combined. The dough will be sticky.
3. damp hands, shape the dough into 30 balls (about 1 tablespoon each). Place about 12 balls on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Press turbinado sugar onto the top of each cookie. (If you don’t have coarse sugar, you can sprinkle the top of each cookie with a little granulated sugar instead.) Bake the cookies, one batch at a time, until slightly puffed and beginning to brown around the edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining dough.