Smells of the season.... Our Favourite Ginger Cookies....

November is over and a quicker pace begins for most of us; filled with tinsel and baubles that make your eyes shine, the laughter and love of family and friends, arms full of hugs, and little surprises that arrive in the mail.  For me, it isn't really the Yuletide season until the baking begins!  There is always a huge list of things I want to make, but I eventually shorten my list as time, resources and room in the freezer dictate!

The first, and for me the most important item on the list is my family's favourite ginger cookies!  Called by many names and with many variations, the ginger cookie is a comfort food for so many people.  Mine has a nice twist; I use all purpose whole wheat flour when making mine!  Almost guilt free! 

First, I cream one and a half cups of room temperature butter in the mixer... remember when creaming butter for any baking room temperature will be soft enough to work without creating lumps!   I add two cups of demarara sugar ( the lovely dark brown sugar with the rich flavour!), and carefully add two whole eggs, one at a time, blending them until creamy and fluffy!  Again, use room temperature eggs when baking!  Adding cold eggs into the softened butter will make it lumpy!  Stir in half a cup of molasses and set the mixture aside.

In a large bowl I stir together three and three quarters of a cup of whole wheat all purpose flour with four teaspoons of baking soda, four teaspoons of powdered Ginger, two teaspoons of cinnamon and two teaspoons of ground cloves.  Make sure to mix them until the spices are well combined;  I just form my hand into a "claw" and stir the mix by hand!  Mmmmm.... it makes the spices smell so good!

Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and gently stir them together until the dough forms a soft ball.  At this point you can also work in the fresh zest of one large lemon, but it is always optional!  You could also add a little chopped candied ginger, but not too much!  The dough is already very flavourful!  Chill until firm!  I have found I don't always have time to complete the recipe on the same day, so at this point you can refrigerate the dough for up to a week to allow the flavours to develop a little more or continue with the recipe!  Make sure the dough is covered if you are going to wait so it doesn't dry out!

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit with your racks in the middle of the oven;  my convection oven will take up to three cookie sheets at a time, so I can get more done at once, but if you want to you can bake only as much as you will be needing for the day!  Work the dough a little with your hands until it is soft enough to form.  Shape the dough into balls about one inch in diameter.... and roll each ball in granulated sugar to coat.  You can either freeze the dough at this point for baking later or cook them now!  Place the formed cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet,  leaving space between them to allow the cookies to spread.  I sometimes make huge cookies, sometimes medium sized and sometimes small ones, but the technique is always the same.  I also "cheat" and use self ejecting ice cream scoops to make all the cookies the same size so they bake at the same rate.

Place the tray (or trays) in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes for smaller cookies, and about 15 minutes for large ones.  The cookies are done when the edges are lightly browned and "set", and the tops "crack".  Allow the cookies to cool for about 5 minutes on the cookie sheets before removing them to a plate ... eat them still warm, or pack them in a "zippy" bag and take them with you!  The ginger and cloves are a wonderful combination, and the amount of spice satisfies your appetite!  Mmmmmmm....  magical!