Whether you can believe it or not, the holiday season is officially here. You’ll likely be knee deep in shopping, gifting, entertaining, cooking, and cookie swapping now through the coming weeks. Although it might seem like a stressful time, it’s an absolutely wonderful time of the year. It’s a time for family, friends, and—of course—cookies.
We all need a holiday cookie to keep in our back pocket for a last-minute gift, to take to a party, or to jazz up the dessert spread at a holiday feast—or, let’s be honest, to make simply for our own weekend treat.
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This cookie is your traditional gingerbread flavor with a not-so-traditional chewiness and chocolate flavor. An added bonus is the dark chocolate drizzle. It’s not necessary, but I highly recommend it.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup unsulfured molasses
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½–2 cups good quality dark chocolate, chopped (plus an extra ¼ cup more for drizzling)
- ¼ cup white sugar, for rolling
Instructions:
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment. Chop dark chocolate into chunks and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. Set aside.
- In a mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add the molasses and beat until combined.
- Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Add in the baking soda, then add remaining half of flour mixture and beat to combine.
- Mix in chocolate. Refrigerate dough about 1 hour, until firm.
- Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 ½–inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Roll the dough balls in sugar, and press down slightly on cookie sheet.
- Bake until the surfaces crack slightly (about 10–12 minutes). Let cool about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While cookies are cooling, melt the reserved ¼ cup dark chocolate in the microwave, in 30 second intervals, until it is melted. Drizzle the chocolate over each cookie, and let set and harden.
- Store cookies at room temperature for up to a week. They taste best if eaten within the first 3 days.
