Ginger Thins Recipes

GINGER THINS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes; set remaining sugar aside. Beat molasses and coffee into creamed mixture. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; add to creamed mixture until well combined (dough will be soft). Cover and freeze for 15 minutes. Shape dough into a 7-in. roll; flatten to 1-in. thickness. Wrap and freeze for 8 hours or overnight., Preheat oven to 350°. Unwrap dough and cut into 1/8-in. slices; place 2 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with reserved sugar. Bake 8-10 minutes or until firm. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. If desired, dip cookies in melted chocolate and sprinkle with ginger.

GINGERSNAP COOKIES (THIN & CRISPY)

Steps:

• Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Add vanilla and eggs and mix until well blended.
• Add molasses and mix until well blended.
• Sift remaining ingredients together in a separate bowl.
• Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in two batches, stirring until just combined.
• Line a mini loaf pan with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, or use a foil baking pan. Pack dough tightly into the pan; use your hands, it's easier. Cover dough and place in freezer overnight.
• Remove from freezer and pan and unwrap dough. Slice the dough brick into thin slices, no more than 1/8 inch. This can be kind of a pain; a wire cutter is the easiest, if you have one.
• Place slices on parchment lined cookie sheet or silicone baking mat, 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 until edges turn dark, 7-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the cookies.

SWEDISH GINGER THINS

Steps:

• Into a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. In a medium bowl with electric mixer beat cream until it just slightly holds stiff peaks. In another large bowl beat butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy. On low speed, beat in the corn syrup and whipped cream, beating until cream is just combined. Add flour mixture and beat until combined well. Form dough into a log. Chill log, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 2 hours, and up to 2 days.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cut dough into quarters and work with 1 quarter at a time, keeping remaining dough covered and chilled. Using a rolling pin dusted with flour, roll out dough into a round on a floured pastry cloth, rolling dough as thin as possible (less than 1/8" thick and about 14" in diameter) and with assorted 2" to 3" cutters cut out cookies. Carefully transfer cookies as cut to ungreased baking sheets with a metal spatula, arranging them about 1/2" apart, and top each with an almond slice. Reroll scraps and cut out more cookies in same manner.
• Bake cookies in batches in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies puff and then collapse slightly, about 6 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets 1 minute and transfer with metal spatula to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough in same manner. Cookies keep in airtight containers at room temperature 1 week.

GINGERBREAD COOKIE THINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F; line three baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly coat with cooking spray. Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, baking soda and cloves in a small bowl and set aside.
• Combine the brown sugar, butter, molasses, milk and egg yolk in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the flour mixture and mix on low, increasing the speed gradually to medium high, until a ball of dough forms, about 3 minutes.
• Lightly coat two pieces of parchment paper with cooking spray. Sandwich the dough between the two pieces (sprayed side touching the dough). Roll out until about 1/16-inch thick. Freeze so the dough gets really firm, about 30 minutes. Cut out with 2-inch cookie cutters and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Whisk the egg white in a small bowl, brush onto the tops of the cookies and sprinkle with the crystallized ginger. Re-roll and cut out the scraps if desired.
• Bake until golden, rotating the sheets about halfway through, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool a few minutes on the sheets, and then transfer to a rack to cool.

SPICY GINGERBREAD THINS

Steps:

• Into a bowl sift together flour, pepper, ground ginger, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. In a small bowl stir together molasses and coffee. In a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed beat together butter and brown sugar until light and creamy. With mixer at low speed beat in gingerroot. Beat in flour mixture alternately with molasses mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Divide dough into thirds. Form each third into a ball and flatten to form disks. Chill disks, wrapped separately in plastic wrap, at least 4 hours and up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Break off egg-size pieces from 1 disk (keep remaining 2 disks chilled) and with heel of hand smear each piece once in a forward motion. Gather pieces together and give dough a few smears to bring together. Repeat procedure with remaining 2 disks.
• On a lightly floured work surface roll out one third of dough into a 22- by 8-inch rectangle (about 1/8 inch thick), making sure dough is not sticking to surface (use a pastry scraper to lift dough; sprinkle surface with additional flour if sticking). With a 2-inch gingerbread man cutter or 3 1/2-inch candy cane cutter cut out shapes, transferring with a spatula to baking sheets and arranging about 1/2 inch apart.
• Bake cookies in batches in lower third of oven 6 to 8 minutes, or until crisp (do not let cookies get too dark). With spatula transfer cookies to racks to cool. Make more cookies with scraps and remaining two thirds of dough in same manner. Cookies keep, in airtight containers at room temperature, 1 week.

HAM & STEM GINGER THINS

Steps:

• Assemble the canapés by topping the biscuits with thin slices of the stem ginger in syrup and spoonfuls of shredded ham. Can be made up to 1 hr ahead.

SWEDISH GINGER THINS

Steps:

• Into a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. In a medium bowl with an electric mixer beat cream until it just holds stiff peaks. In another large bowl beat butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy and on low speed beat in corn syrup and whipped cream, beating until cream is just combined. Add flour mixture and beat until combined well. Form dough into a disk. Chill disk, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 2 hours, and up to 2 days.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Cut dough into quarters and work with 1 quarter at a time, keeping remaining dough covered and chilled. Using a rolling pin with cover dusted with flour, roll out dough into a round on a floured pastry cloth, rolling dough as thin as possible (less than 1/8 inch thick and about 14 inches in diameter) and with assorted 2- to 3-inch cutters cut out cookies. Carefully transfer cookies as cut to ungreased baking sheets with a metal spatula, arranging them about 1/2 inch apart, and top each with an almond slice. Reroll scraps and cut out more cookies in same manner.
• Bake cookies in batches in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies puff and then collapse slightly, about 6 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets 1 minute and transfer with metal spatula to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough in same manner. Cookies keep in airtight containers at room temperature 1 week.