Maple Ginger Cookies

This week, I decided to make another cookie from The Naturally Good Cook.  Another Maple based desert, but this time with a spicy twist.  At first glance of this recipe, I thought it would have a more prominent maple element, but I was mistaken.

First beat together 1 cup of brown sugar

1/3 cup of molasses and 1/3 cup grade B maple syrup

and 1/4 cup of vegetable/canola oil.

Once this is combined, beat in 1 egg.

In a separate bowl, mix up 2 1/2 cups flour with 1 tsp baking soda, 3 tsps cinnamon, 1 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.

That's a lot of spice for a cookie.

Slowly beat in the flour mixture.

Next, chop up 1 1/2 cups candied ginger.  I got mine from the Asian supermarket near my house.

Mix in the chopped ginger.

Next I used my cookie scoop to make them into uniform balls and I rolled them in sugar.  I didn't have sanding sugar which is what the recipe called for, but I figured that despite that they'd still be good.  I also flattened the cookies slightly before putting them in the oven.

Bake for 13 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

These look like your basic ginger snaps, but with chunks of ginger in them.

How were they?

Not nearly as spicy as anticipated, but tasty nevertheless!

Yet another successful recipe from an awesome book!

Enjoy!

Black Friday Pie

Ok, so please forgive the lateness of this post!  I was super busy with student teaching, taking tests, finishing portfolios and applying to grad school.  However, all of that is finished, and I can get back to blogging!

This Thanksgiving, I was put in charge of dessert.  I decided to try and make my own pie, from Scratch!

I decided to use a recipe from Alton Brown.  Super easy to do in theory, and I got to use my scale that I received last Christmas from my sister!

I was making a pudding pie and an apple pie, so  decided to triple the recipe.

3/4 cup of unsalted butter cut into cubes.

3 ounces of crisco (I didn't have lard, so I used the next best thing)

I put the fats in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile I pulsed together 18 ounces of flour and 1 1/2 tsp of salt in the food processor.

Next I added the fats into the processor.  First the butter.

I pulsed the processor until the mixture looked mealy.

Then I added the crisco.

As I pulsed the mixture I added ice cold water by the tsp until the dough came together.

I split the dough three ways and formed them into discs in zip top bags.

I put them each in the fridge for 30 minutes.

I pulled the first disc out and began to roll it out...and it fell apart.

The same thing happened to the second and third.  Now, I was doing this the day before Thanksgiving.

Magically there were crusts available at the store.

So I baked one in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes for the pudding pie.  Meanwhile in a blender I mixed 1 pack of silken tofu with 2 tsp of vanilla.

I melted 1 package of 60 % cocoa chocolate chips and added it to the blender.

Once the pie was cool enough I poured the tofu mixture into it and put it in the fridge.

For the apple pie I left the crusts out on the counter to thaw.  I cut up Ida Red and Crispin Apples and piled them high in the crust, covered and baked in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Both pies were appreciated at dinner last night.  Thank you so much for your patience!  I look forward to doing more of this in the future, and there are plenty more baking adventures to come!

Enjoy!