oatmeal ginger chocolate chip cookies
The photo does these no justice! The taste of these cookies was exactly what I was looking for... I had just made some crystallized ginger (yum!), and had a craving for some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with said ginger chips added to them. I was happily surprised when I saw that someone on good 'ol epicurious.com had the exact same thoughts at some point!
oatmeal cookies with chocolate chunks and candied ginger
Epicurious | June 2007
Tracey Seaman
Prep: 15 minutes Baking: about 45 minutes
Servings: Makes about 50 cookies.
Ingredients
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour [I used regular, it's all I had and it was fine!]
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups (packed) brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 ounces semisweet chocolate coarsely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
Preparation
Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In food processor, combine oats, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, salt, and baking soda. Pulse until oats are coarsely chopped, about 6 (1-second) pulses. Set aside.
Using electric mixer at high speed, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg, honey, and vanilla and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Add oat mixture and mix at low speed just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate and ginger.
Drop rounded tablespoons of dough about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, 2 pans at a time, switching positions of pans halfway through baking, until golden and slightly crisp on edges, about 14 to 16 minutes. Cool on sheets 3 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Continue making cookies with remaining dough and cooled sheets.
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Don't be afraid to try your hand at crystallized ginger! It really is easy, you just have to be attentative to it while it's cooking. The results are definitely worth it! Plus, it's a LOT cheaper than buying it already made from those speciality shops. A huge piece of ginger costs less than a dollar. PLUS, you can keep the "extra" sugar once you're done making the chips, and use it as you would any sugar - except it's lightly flavored with ginger! Mmm.. great for adding to teas, especially.
Here's the recipe I used:
Crystallized Ginger
This is one of the world's premier confections. It is wonderful by itself as a small sweet. It serves with distinction as an accompaniment to expresso and cakes in the afternoon, or Champagne and fruit in the morning. Given a bittersweet chocolate coating garnished with chopped macadamia or hazelnuts it is an elegant candy. Chopped or julliened it garnishes pastries, custards, pumpkin pies, stewed fruits, cookies and many other desserts. It is even a welcome accompaniment to a Curry.
This is not a hard recipe, but it needs to be watched, and the heat regulated carefully, so that all goes Slowly, and that the cooking is stopped at the proper time. I took these notes this evening from a batch I just finished, hope it can be understood.
First, the ginger. You want young, tender ginger, as fresh as possible. The characteristics you want to look for are:
Thin, tender and even brown skin.
Firm flesh with minimal "give", or "spongyness".
Well shaped main body with minimal extraneous protrusions.
A fresh and pleasant odor.
For this recipe, buy about 10 ounces of ginger, which will give you about 6 ounces of cleaned and sliced ginger root. Once you have learned the basics, this recipe can be multiplied to almost any quantity.
First, carefully peel off the outside brown skin of the root. Remove the secondary knobs, freeze them for something else. Cut out any discolored or dried out spots. Cut the root into 2 inch lengths and slice lengthwise into 1/8th inch slices. Punch holes in the slices with a needle or fork, sort of like you would tenderize a steak. Toss the slices in a bowl with:
2 Cups sugar.
Add 1 Tbl of water to a 6 or 8 inch iron frying pan or a heavy wok, pour in the ginger and sugar, and bring very slowly up to a gentle simmer. Stir occasionally for an hour. Lower the heat to a minimum and let very slowly simmer, stirring occasionally and separating the slices, until the syrup starts to get thick and crystallize. There will be a rim of sugar that crystallizes out around the edge of the pan, and the mixture will become quite thick and syrupy, and will have a lot of sugar crystals in it.
Soon the mixture will bubble slowly all over the surface, and when gently stirred will crystallize more and more. (This last phase only takes a few minutes, so watch carefully toward the end. If it carmelizes, it is junk.) Soon the syrup is mostly crystals, and the whole mass will start coming together when stirred. When you can make a pile of it in the middle of the pan, and very little syrup drains out, take it off the heat, and toss gently while it cools. Make sure the slices remain separated. If done right, the crystallized ginger slices will separate from the sugar at this point.
Spread it all out on a tray to cool and dry, then store airtight somewhere dark and cool. Use the sugar in coffee, cookies, or anywhere else that a fresh, clean ginger accent would be nice.
oatmeal cookies with chocolate chunks and candied ginger
Epicurious | June 2007
Tracey Seaman
Prep: 15 minutes Baking: about 45 minutes
Servings: Makes about 50 cookies.
Ingredients
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour [I used regular, it's all I had and it was fine!]
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups (packed) brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 ounces semisweet chocolate coarsely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
Preparation
Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In food processor, combine oats, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, salt, and baking soda. Pulse until oats are coarsely chopped, about 6 (1-second) pulses. Set aside.
Using electric mixer at high speed, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg, honey, and vanilla and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Add oat mixture and mix at low speed just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate and ginger.
Drop rounded tablespoons of dough about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, 2 pans at a time, switching positions of pans halfway through baking, until golden and slightly crisp on edges, about 14 to 16 minutes. Cool on sheets 3 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Continue making cookies with remaining dough and cooled sheets.
-------------
Don't be afraid to try your hand at crystallized ginger! It really is easy, you just have to be attentative to it while it's cooking. The results are definitely worth it! Plus, it's a LOT cheaper than buying it already made from those speciality shops. A huge piece of ginger costs less than a dollar. PLUS, you can keep the "extra" sugar once you're done making the chips, and use it as you would any sugar - except it's lightly flavored with ginger! Mmm.. great for adding to teas, especially.
Here's the recipe I used:
Crystallized Ginger
This is one of the world's premier confections. It is wonderful by itself as a small sweet. It serves with distinction as an accompaniment to expresso and cakes in the afternoon, or Champagne and fruit in the morning. Given a bittersweet chocolate coating garnished with chopped macadamia or hazelnuts it is an elegant candy. Chopped or julliened it garnishes pastries, custards, pumpkin pies, stewed fruits, cookies and many other desserts. It is even a welcome accompaniment to a Curry.
This is not a hard recipe, but it needs to be watched, and the heat regulated carefully, so that all goes Slowly, and that the cooking is stopped at the proper time. I took these notes this evening from a batch I just finished, hope it can be understood.
First, the ginger. You want young, tender ginger, as fresh as possible. The characteristics you want to look for are:
Thin, tender and even brown skin.
Firm flesh with minimal "give", or "spongyness".
Well shaped main body with minimal extraneous protrusions.
A fresh and pleasant odor.
For this recipe, buy about 10 ounces of ginger, which will give you about 6 ounces of cleaned and sliced ginger root. Once you have learned the basics, this recipe can be multiplied to almost any quantity.
First, carefully peel off the outside brown skin of the root. Remove the secondary knobs, freeze them for something else. Cut out any discolored or dried out spots. Cut the root into 2 inch lengths and slice lengthwise into 1/8th inch slices. Punch holes in the slices with a needle or fork, sort of like you would tenderize a steak. Toss the slices in a bowl with:
2 Cups sugar.
Add 1 Tbl of water to a 6 or 8 inch iron frying pan or a heavy wok, pour in the ginger and sugar, and bring very slowly up to a gentle simmer. Stir occasionally for an hour. Lower the heat to a minimum and let very slowly simmer, stirring occasionally and separating the slices, until the syrup starts to get thick and crystallize. There will be a rim of sugar that crystallizes out around the edge of the pan, and the mixture will become quite thick and syrupy, and will have a lot of sugar crystals in it.
Soon the mixture will bubble slowly all over the surface, and when gently stirred will crystallize more and more. (This last phase only takes a few minutes, so watch carefully toward the end. If it carmelizes, it is junk.) Soon the syrup is mostly crystals, and the whole mass will start coming together when stirred. When you can make a pile of it in the middle of the pan, and very little syrup drains out, take it off the heat, and toss gently while it cools. Make sure the slices remain separated. If done right, the crystallized ginger slices will separate from the sugar at this point.
Spread it all out on a tray to cool and dry, then store airtight somewhere dark and cool. Use the sugar in coffee, cookies, or anywhere else that a fresh, clean ginger accent would be nice.