Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

These are a favorite staple at my house. They start disappearing before I can even get the dough in the fridge to chill. My boyfriend, the consumer friendly judge, refers to the chilled dough balls as little turds. Little turds that he greedily pops in his mouth and runs with his Cheshire grin beaming brightly. Be forewarned..make a double batch. I always make a double and then turn around and make another double. These freeze well, if they survive the turd thief.

This recipe comes courtesy of Martha Stewart. The original can be found here. http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/chewy-chocolate-gingerbread-cookies

I have tried little tweaks but honestly this recipe is pretty much perfect. The only things I can suggest is to be sure to use fresh ground spices if you can and instead of semisweet I use bittersweet or a blend of bittersweet and milk. Sometimes I roll the chilled dough in a mix of cinnamon and sugar instead of plain sugar. These always come out very thin crisp out layer and a chewy rich center.

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies - adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies Cookbook

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons fresh ginger (grated)
1 teaspoon fresh ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 nutmeg (grated)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature ( 4 oz)
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulfered molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water
7 ounces best quality bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/4 inch chunks
1/4 cup large grain organic sugar
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and fresh ginger on medium speed until lightened, about minutes.

Add brown sugar, beat until combined.

Add molasses; beat until combined.

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in boiling water.

Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture.

Beat in baking soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture.
Mix in chocolate

Chill for 30 minutes. When chilled roll into balls or use a cookie scoop. You can bake at this point. I usually scoop the balls to single layer pan and freeze for an hour. They bake up a little thicker and chewy and moist straight from the freezer.

I did want to get pictures of the dough before I rolled them in sugar and baked. However the turd thief came home from poker early and they were in danger of being devoured before I could get them in the oven.

Once chilled, roll in sugar or as mentioned earlier cinnamon sugar.

Place about 2 inches apart and bake in a 325 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Or until the surfaces begins to crack and the insides of the cracks look slightly dry.

Let cook 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.