RECIPE: GINGERBREAD CRINKLE COOKIES
Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies are slightly soft, a bit chewy, warm with spices and a must during Christmas or the Holiday Season. Sugar coated cookies with cracks or crinkles look so festive.
What are Crinkle Cookies?
Crinkle cookies are cookies with cracks in them. They are intentionally baked in a particular manner to get the cracks or wrinkles. The crack effect with the sugar coating makes them look very festive. The sugared parts reminds one of snow capped mountains. There are so many varieties of crinkle cookies, chocolate, lemon, strawberry, peanut butter, red velvet, pumpkin, sweet yam, coffee and so many more.
Why I baked Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies?
I love baking ginger cookies during Christmas time. Reminds me of the Ginger thins that my dad gets from IKEA. However, this Christmas had no intentions of switching on my oven as its just too hot in Mombasa. However, my daughter who is visiting us, insisted that the house should smell of warm spices around Christmas time. Doesn’t matter if its sweltering hot. I mentioned to her that I really would love to try baking crinkle cookies. From chocolate ones we jumped to red velvet and settled on Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies as soon as I came across the recipe on the blog If You Give A Blonde A Kitchen.
Must Follow Tips to Bake Perfect Crinkle Cookies
Before I embarked on baking crinkle cookies, went through a number of recipes for all the tips. Most recipes vouched that the crinkle or crack effect is not possible for a cookie dough without eggs. However, I beg to differ. Here are the tips that you must follow for Perfect Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies:
- Make sure the dough is cold and firm. Leave it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes or longer. Or leave it in the fridge overnight.
- If the dough becomes warm put it back in the fridge.
- Don’t handle the dough too much. Warm dough means no crinkle effect.
- Its best to bake one tray at a time to get the crinkle effect.
- The balls should not be flattened at all, leave them as round balls.
- It is important to roll the dough balls in granulated sugar and then in the icing sugar. Its the sugars on top that helps to dry out the top of the cookie quickly and results in a crack effect.
- Using both baking powder and baking soda is important as they help in the rise and spread of cookies.
- Baking at 150 -160°C is important to get the crinkle effect. If you bake at 180°C, then the top hardens too quickly and doesn’t give the cookies a chance to spread.
Other Cookies you may want to bake for Christmas
Krestkransjes – Dutch Christmas Cookies
Plan 2019
Events to look forward to in 2019 are my sister’s daughter’s wedding in Thailand, our other niece getting married at Daytona Beach in July. 3rd niece getting married in Mombasa. Also what hubby and I are so looking forward(impatiently waiting!) to, is to stay at ‘THE ELEMENTUM’ a small boutique hotel constructed and opened by my son and daughter in law in beautiful Bali. Please take a moment to check out their website. They both have worked so hard to build this eco -friendly, quaint little piece of heaven on earth. We will also be taking the Rocky Mountaineer Train from Vancouver and going through the Canadian Rockies. Super excited as I love long train journeys.
Preparation for 2019
Hubby and I first had to get our passports renewed to the new electronic one. We submitted them for renewal mid Oct 2019, but got them back just before Christmas Holidays. We wanted to travel during the first week of Jan to India but that will be delayed as we still have to go to Nairobi for our US and Thailand visa.
Minor Changes to prepare Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
Instead of using only plain or all purpose flour I replaced part of it with wheat flour. I was not able to find molasses so replaced it with maple syrup. I made the gingerbread spice at home, as homemade fresh spices are the best.
Anticipation
Whenever my daughter visits us, we bake cakes or cookies today. Today was no exception. It was sight to see us both staring at the oven to see if the crinkle effect happens. And sure the cracks slowly began to appear.
Ingredients Required for Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
- Wheat Flour – I use the flour we use for making rotis/parathas.
- Plain Flour – All purpose flour
- Brown Sugar
- Salted Butter – chilled and cut into small pieces
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda – Soda bicarbonate
- Molasses – or use honey, maple syrup, Golden Syrup or Dark Corn Syrup
- Milk
- Granulated Sugar – normal refined sugar
- Icing Sugar – powdered sugar, confectioners’ sugar
For the Gingerbread Spice:
- Ginger Powder
- Cinnamon Powder
- Nutmeg Powder
- Clove Powder
GINGERBREAD CRINKLE COOKIES
Ingredients
- 2 cups wheat flour
- 1 cup plain flour all purpose flour
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 170 g salted butter cut into small cubes and chilled
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda soda bi carbonate
- ¾ cup molasses or use honey, maple syrup, dark corn syrup,golden syrup
- 2 tbsp milk
For Gingerbread Spice Mixture:
- 2 tbsp ginger powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- ½ tsp clove powder
- ½ tsp nutmeg powder
For topping:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup icing or confectioners' sugar
Instructions
Preparation of the Gingerbread Spice:
- Mix all the spices together.
Preparation of the dough:
- Sift flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda and gingerbread spice mixture together into a big bowl.
- Add brown sugar and mix well.
- Add the butter cubes and rub it into the flour using your finger tips till it resembles bread crumbs.
- Add the molasses or any substitute you're using and the milk.
- Bring the mixture together into a the dough till it gets wet. Do not over mix the dough.
- Divide the dough into two parts. Shape each part into a round disc.
- Cover each part with cling film and put it in the freezer.
- In the meantime prepare the baking tray. You can line it with parchment paper or lightly grease it with butter.
- Preheat the oven to 160ºC.
- Put the sugar and icing sugar in two different bowls.
- Take out both the dough parts from the freezer. Put one part in the fridge till required.
- Using a tablespoon, scoop up the dough and roll it into a ball. Remember do not roll it too much otherwise the dough will become warm.
- Roll the ball in the sugar and then in the icing sugar.
- Place it on the baking tray.
- Repeat steps 11 to 13 with the rest of the dough.
- Place the balls 1 inch apart.
- Put the tray in the oven and let the cookies bake for 12-15 minutes.
- Remove the tray from the oven.
- Let the cookies cool down for 2-3 minutes on the tray.
- Put the cookies on a wire rack to cool down completely.
- Store in an airtight container.
- Take out the other part of the dough from the fridge and bake the cookies.
Notes
- The cookie dough must be chilled in the freezer for at least 20-30 minutes or until firm or in the fridge overnight.
- If the dough becomes warm put it back in the fridge.
- Its best to bake one tray at a time to get the crinkle effect.
- It is important to roll the dough balls in granulated sugar and then in the icing sugar.
- Its the sugars on top that helps to dry out the top of the cookie quickly and results in a crack effect.
- Using both baking powder and baking soda is important as they help in the rise and spread of cookies.
- Baking at 150 -160°C is important to get the crinkle effect. If you bake at 180°C, then the top hardens too quickly and doesn't give the cookies a chance to spread.
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A little request
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962