I was a little troubled the other day…. while I desperately did not want to turn my oven to 375° on a day so humid you could practically bottle the humidity, I really, REALLY wanted a ginger scone and did not want the store or cafe-bought variety, which tend to be nothing like a real scone.

 

Well, as fate would have it, my scones (yes, I did cave and turn the oven on) were also nothing like a real scone, but, in fact, turned out to be more like the perfect ginger cookie. Now, before you think that all of this balmy Boston weather has gone to my head and turned me into some sort of ego-maniac, dropping superlatives like “best” and “perfect” with nary a thought for accuracy, let me tell you that this cookie is worthy of any and all laudations that you care to throw at it.

 

But first, the story of how my scone became a cookie…. Many years ago, I worked at a cookbook company, and one of the perks was the opportunity to review and take home books that were in their final stages, but not quite ready for print. Perhaps the author’s acknowledgements were missing, pages weren’t numbered, or some of the recipes still needed a note here and there – the books were all but done, save a few details.

 

I took home A Sweet Quartet: Sugar, Almonds, Eggs & Butter, which is half narrative/half cookbook, and a very sweet read. Inside, I found what looked to be a lovely recipe for ginger scones; the measurements seemed a bit off, and the quantity of sugar was missing, but I figured I could make an educated guess, cross my fingers, and hope that all turned out well.

 

As I made the dough, something seemed off.  It was stickier and more difficult to work with than any scone dough I’ve ever made before, but, I added a bit more flour and popped them into the oven….

 

About half-way through baking, I turned the oven light on and saw that my “scones” were flat as pancakes. Harumph. So much for my lovely ginger scones, I guess my craving will have to be filled by lovely ginger pancakes.

 

I took them out of the oven, let them cool, and took a bite, and it was outrageously delicious. The ginger flavor was powerful yet smooth, and the texture was delightful – cakey on the inside and crispy, sugary on the outside. I couldn’t call them scones, but to do away with such a wonderful recipe seemed a waste of something truly special.

 

As the afternoon wore on, and my trips to grab ‘just one more nibble’ increased, I realized that my ginger scones were actually the perfect afternoon cookie, and thus was born Besotted’s Best Ginger Cookie.

 

Just a note, the ginger flavor comes from sugary ginger chips, real ginger, and ginger powder, and I would advise you not to skimp on any of them. It’s the combination of ginger flavors that adds depth and richness to the cookie. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Best Ginger Cookies, Yields 12

 

Prep Time: 25 Minutes

Baking & Cooling Time: 30 Minutes

Total Prep Time: 55 Minutes

 

Ingredients:

 

2 Cups Flour

1 Cup Sugar

1 ½ Tsp. Baking Powder

½ Tsp. Baking Soda

¼ Tsp. Salt

2 Tsp. Ground Ginger (Ginger Powder)

2 Tbls. Candied Ginger

1 Tbls. Fresh Ginger, peeled and rough chopped

¼ Cup Butter, very cold and cut into 8 pieces

½ Cup Buttermilk

1 Tbls. Maple Syrup

Sugar in the Raw

 

Preparation:

 

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375°.

 

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and gingers 6-8 times, until blended. Add the butter through the feed tube and pulse 12-15 times, until blended. The dough should look somewhat crumbly and sandy.

 

Pour ¼ cup of the buttermilk through the feed tube and pulse quickly until blended. Add the remaining ¼ cup of the buttermilk and the maple syrup and pulse again until blended.

 

 

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, knead into a bowl, and flatten into a disc shape (note: the dough will be very sticky, so flour your hands well, and don’t have any reservations about adding more flour to the surface or dough to make it more manageable).

 

Using 1 ½ – 2 inch cookie rounds, cut cookies out of the dough and arrange on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle the sugar in the raw on top of the cookies.

 

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack or serve immediately…. Enjoy!