A Full Sensory Experience: Ginger Nuts

There is no photo of the "Ginger Nuts" cookies in Samantha Seneviratne's cookbook, but the headnote drew me in. She writes that: "These snaps have that addictive crunch -- the type that interrupts the quiet reading happening the the next room." I love me a crunchy cookie!

 

These are roll-and-cut cookies, so they require a bit of advance planning to allow for chilling time. To make the dough, you cream softened butter with dark brown sugar until light and fluffy; add blackstrap molasses and an egg yolk; and incorporate the dry ingredients (flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, freshly ground black pepper, grated nutmeg, baking soda, kosher salt, and ground cloves). I formed the dough into a disk and chilled it for a few hours until firm. 

I rolled out the dough to a thickness of 1/8-inch and cut out rounds 2.5-inches in diameter. The dough was easy to handle and I was able to re-roll all of the scraps multiple times without a problem. I got 35 cookies from a batch of dough. Because the dough was rather dark to start with, it was a little difficult to judge when the cookies were finished baking; you're supposed to bake them until the edges just begin to darken slightly.

The warm aroma of rich spices filled my kitchen as these cookies were baking, and lingered until the next day. Seneviratne's comments about these cookies being crunchy is no joke. These cookies give your jaw a workout, and biting into one creates a wave of sound that resonates in your skull. The outsized auditory experience is matched by the exceptionally aggressive spice level of the cookie -- the flavor is intense. This is a whole lot of cookie, and I loved it. I was afraid that the cookie might be challenging for my tasters, but I was happy to hear that it was well received, even by children. 

These cookies might look like nothing special, but they are a delicious and full sensory experience!

 

Recipe: "Ginger Nuts" from The New Sugar & Spice by Samantha Seneviratne.