Cooking through the seasons for family & friends in my Colorado kitchen
If you’ve never had cardamom before, you’re in for a real treat when you whip up these cardamom cookies with brown butter icing! I remember how addicted I was the first time I tasted cardamom in a baked good. It’s that little surprise of flavor that makes …
I realize adding a newbie cookie to the holiday line up is a risk. Breaking traditions at Christmastime, especially this year, as we grasp for any sort of convention, is strictly forbidden. However, if you make one cookie from my cookie plate line up, I urge …
Cinnamon, nutmeg, molasses and ginger…there’s just something in that combination that screams holiday cookie baking. There’s also something wonderful about a bakery-sized ginger cookie. They always feel more special, especially when they’re super-soft and chewy! These fresh ginger cookies are a must-try cookie this holiday season.
My grandma Tina clipped this recipe from the Daily Camera years ago, after a favorite Boulder bakery of ours, Breadworks, shared their recipe. I’ve made them every year since!
Give these a go and let me know what you think. I always enjoy hearing about your baking adventures, successes and failures!
Makes 15 cookies
3 cups plus 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (freshly ground preferred)
1/2 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room-temperature
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
3 tbsp finely minced or grated fresh ginger
1 egg
½ cup molasses (not blackstrap)
¼ cup granulated or turbinando sugar, for topping
Stir together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, and pepper with a whisk until well incorporated.
Cream softened butter with both sugars, until light and fluffy. Add fresh ginger and mix, followed by the egg, and the molasses, beating well after each addition and scraping sides of bowl down with a rubber spatula as needed. Add dry ingredients gradually and mix on low speed until just combined.
With palms of your hands, roll cookies into balls about the size of large golf balls. Refrigerate the dough at this point for about 30 minutes. Remember to preheat your oven 350 degrees F while your cookie dough is chilling and set the oven rack to the middle position.
Flatten dough balls into discs and dredge in the topping sugar. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Let sit on cookie sheet for a few minutes until firm enough to remove with a spatula onto cooling rack to cool completely.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? If you make these, be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating! And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (@lane_bakery). I love seeing everything you create!
Swedish Tea Rings – Classic Jam Thumbprint Cookies
No-Chill Cinnamon-Sugar Cut-Out Cookies
Ultra-Thin Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Cardamom Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
Cappuccino Flats
Every cookie plate must have a chocolate chip cookie. These ones are extra special, perfect for the holidays. Chunks of dark chocolate, a delicate texture, and rich, caramel flavor make these ultra-thin chocolate chunk cookies irresistible! If you’re normally bent on eating only soft and chewy chocolate …
No cookie plate is complete without a decorated cut-out cookie, like the ones we remember from our childhood. These cinnamon-sugar no-chill cut-out cookies are a must! They are taken over the top with addition of cinnamon, something my mother-in-law introduced me to. The best thing about this dough, …
Swedish tea rings are classic thumbprint cookies. They’re made with a thick base of buttery shortbread, rolled in pecans and crowned with a jewel of jam. These beauties are a must on any of our family cookie plates! This recipe originated from my mother’s paternal grandmother and we all look forward to them every Christmas.
Use your very favorite jam for these cookies. Strawberry or raspberry, my favorite, is especially pretty, but there are so many possibilities!
MAKE DOUGH
To start, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add yolk of one egg and mix well. Gradually add the flour until just combined. Using a small cookie scoop or teaspoon, scoop and roll the dough into small balls. You should have about 16 balls.
SHAPE
Place egg white and pecans in two separate small bowls. Using small spoons, roll each dough ball in the egg white and then coat in the pecans. Use your thumb to press a hollow in the center of each ball.
BAKE
Place the cookies on a greased or parchement paper-lined cookie sheet. The egg whites will make these cookies stick, so don’t skip this part.
Bake at 325 degrees for 6 minutes and then remove from oven. Re-print each cookie center with your thumb and bake for 11-14 minutes more.
Cool cookies on cookie rack for a few minutes, before adding ¼ teaspoon of your favorite jam to the center of each cookie.
If you make these, be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating! And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (@lane_bakery)! I love seeing everything you create.
No-Chill Cinnamon-Sugar Cut-Out Cookies
Ultra-Thin Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Fresh Ginger Cookies
Cardamom Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
Cappuccino Flats
I noticed the arrival of Christmas trees shining through neighbor’s windows earlier than ever this year, as well as an unprecedented extravagance to outside Christmas light displays around town. There’s a definite longing for the joy and hope of the Christmas season. I’m extra excited …
Slow-cooker beef & barley soup is a cross between a French onion soup and a tomato soup, with tender beef – but not too much, lots of carrots and velvety barley. The rich broth is flavored with thyme, red wine and soy sauce (the ingrediento segreto!). …
Have you ever tried Bircher muesli? This grated apple yogurt bowl is my oat-less version of Bircher muesli, made with an apple, yogurt, almond butter and lots of cinnamon.
It’s a great make-and-go breakfast or lunch and doesn’t require any soaking time like overnight oats, although you can make it the night before and pop it in the fridge overnight.
This creation was inspired by many months of grating apples to determine the best ratios for homemade Bircher muesli. I remember that light bulb moment back in 2015 when I was desperately trying to reinvent Pret a Manger’s Bircher muesli, realizing how much flavor, sweetness and texture grated apple brings to the table.
Don’t let me lead you to believe I don’t like muesli. But, this grated apple bowl is a nice departure from the usual oatmeal-based bowl.
Since it’s apple season, it’s a great time to stock up on your favorite apple. Did you know apples can be stored in the fridge for up to 8 weeks? So, if you find them on sale, stock up!
This delicious grated apple yogurt bowl is full of good-for-you ingredients. Plus, I promise you, there won’t be many times of the day you won’t be craving this one.
Yogurt – Use what you love here, but definitely go for plain yogurt. You won’t believe how much sweetness comes from the apple. I like whole-milk versions best since they’re so creamy. Greek works really well in this recipe, too, and ups the protein count big time.
Cinnamon – This will seem like too much to add, but this bowl can stand up to a hearty shake of cinnamon.
Apple – Grate the apple with a box grater, as close to the core as you can without slicing your knuckle off! I like the sweet-tart varieties like pink lady or honeycrisp, but use whichever is your favorite.
Almond butter –The combo of apple, cinnamon and almond butter really sings. It’s best to use an unsweetened variety for this as well, because you really won’t miss the sugar!
In preparing for a different sort of Halloween this year, my daughters brainstormed some treat ideas to replace the standard trick-or-treating tradition. There were pleas for these candied apples, from a Pioneer Woman cooking show the girls watched with me last Thanksgiving. Although beautiful, we’re …
With such a simple list of ingredients, it’s surprising how addicting these sweet potato burritos are. The sweet potatoes, combined with almost-caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, cumin, oregano and chili powder, have that crave-worthy sweet and savory flavor profile. In fact, I find the pronounced flavor …
Even though school is already back in session in Colorado, I can’t let the last weeks of summer slip by without sharing one of my favorite summer salad staples: caprese salad with balsamic reduction!
Caprese is made with fresh mozzarella, juicy summer tomatoes, fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic glaze and extra virgin olive oil. With a rustic loaf of bread, this salad is satisfying enough to count as a weeknight dinner. I’ve been making caprese salad for many years, but it’s been refined through lots of trial and error.
Balsamic glaze or reduction – A drizzle of shiny balsamic reduction or glaze, with its concentration of flavor, far exceeds the look and taste of plain balsamic vinegar. It’s worth the extra step to make it (or the money to buy it), believe me!
Freshly-ground coarse pepper – Turn your pepper grinder to the most-coarse setting and be generous! This gives the salad a bit of spice and accents the acidity of the tomatoes and the sweetness of the vinegar glaze.
Garden-fresh tomatoes – Pick some up at a farmer’s market or select a few heirloom tomatoes from the store if your grocery is well stocked. This will be obvious when you cut into a garden fresh summer tomato, but the color and taste is far superior to those white-centered off-season versions available at other times of the year. My stepmom and Aunt grew these beauties!
3 large tomatoes
16 ounces fresh mozzarella
¼ teaspoon sea salt (or other coarse salt)
¼ teaspoon coarsely-ground black pepper
10-16 large basil leaves, sliced thinly into a chiffonade, plus a few small leaves for garnish
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (may not use all of it)
1/4 cup balsamic reduction/glaze (may not use all of it; recipe below, or use store-bought, like this one)
Balsamic Reduction (Glaze):
Looking for another tasty summer salad? Try this Spicy Banh Mi Chicken & Quinoa Salad or this Lemony Quinoa Salad with Almonds & Dried Cherries.
