Dec 31 Ginger Bourbon Cookies

Oven: 350°

• 3/4 cup butter at room temperature
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 tablespoon bourbon
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• generous 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked or coarsely ground black pepper
• approximately 1/4 cup chopped crystalized ginger
• granulated sugar

These cookies were a bit of a lesson in not being wed to only one way of doing things. I thought I had all of the ingredients on hand to make them the way I usually do, but midway through cooking I came to realize I didn't. So, these ingredients reflect a substituted and somewhat improvised version. Despite the tweaking, the cookies turned out pretty well. Their flavor was actually stronger on the second day.

I tossed the butter in the mixer and whipped it quickly to make sure it wasn't too cold or hard. I then added the brown sugar and beat those two ingredients together very well. I added the egg, molasses, and bourbon, mixed that very thoroughly. I like to give the butter, sugar, and egg ingredients a pretty serious beating when I make cookies, otherwise they seem to turn out rather flat.

I sifted together the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt. I ran out of both ground and crystalized ginger partway through measuring, so I upped the fresh ginger and decided to just roll with it. I tossed the black peppercorns in a spice grinder and pulsed it quickly a few times, just until there were no longer any whole peppercorns, then added that to the flour mixture. Sometimes I'll put the peppercorns in a mortar and pestle and just crack them, but I opted for the spice grinder this go round. I added the flour in small batches to the butter mixture, being careful not to overmix. Lastly, I stirred in the crystalized ginger. I then put the whole mixture in the fridge to chill for about two hours.

Once the dough had chilled, I formed formed it into balls, taking about a rounded tablespoon of dough at a time. I rolled each ball in granulated sugar to coat it, then placed it on a baking sheet, flattening each ball slightly with my palm. I spaced the cookies a couple inches apart on the sheets for baking. They went into the oven for somewhere between 10 and fifteen minutes, until they looked set, then it was out and on to wire racks to cool.

I was feeling a bit lazy, so I made large cookies, but they can also be made smaller, which would take a little less time to bake.