No Christmas, in my opinion, is complete without a tray of cookies to finish off a fabulous meal. This year, I’m participating in Patience Brewster’s online cookie exchange! If you’re not familiar, Patience Brewster is an artist and designer of handcrafted ornaments. What a fabulous way to share recipes and get in the holiday spirit! I’ve been baking up a storm at Chez Bowman – so far I’ve made 3 or 4 types of cookies (including these – ahem, famous ones), English toffee that I distributed to my coworkers in cute holiday packaging (all Martha Stewart-like), and my favorite holiday culinary tradition, Challah (a Jewish holiday classic, that’s become a staple in my family’s WASPy Christmas breakfast – more to come on that recipe in the coming weeks).
As you may have noticed, I have a pretty big sweet tooth, and it’s hard for me to go a day without a small, satisfying treat. Last week, craving chocolate, as I often do, I bought a dark chocolate candy bar with crystallized ginger, and was immediately inspired to transform this amazing flavor combination into a satisfying cookie.
Christmas at my parents wouldn’t be complete without an exorbitant amount of cookies, and these – in my opinion – are one of the best. My dad had made the original recipe a few weeks ago, and was the genius behind the addition of the raw sugar. It adds this subtle crunch to the cookies that makes them incredibly addicting. I knew the intensity of the chocolate would pair perfectly with the spicy crystallized ginger (and I happened to already have some on hand after making some ginger-bourbon cupcakes for a friend’s birthday). The added crunch from the raw sugar and crystallized ginger makes these cookies distinctly delicious.
If you need a last minute, easy cookie recipe for the holidays, or just need to satisfy your next chocolate craving, these should be it. Happy holidays all!
INGREDIENTS: RECIPE: Preheat oven to 375° F. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. In the bowl of a stand up mixer (or large bowl with a hand-held electric mixer), beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla and cocoa, and mix until combined. On low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and ginger, and stir until evenly distributed. Drop the cookies by heaping, rounded teaspoons onto parchment-lined baking sheets, and bake for about 8 minutes, until puffed, but not overly browned. Make sure not to over-bake. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool Cookies will keep for 3-4 days, stored in an airtight container.Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Crystallized Ginger
Cassie's Kitchen 
New to your posts. Really enjoy them. Going to brave Christmas Eve traffic and chaos to get crystalized ginger to make these yummy-yums! Thanks
Thank you so much for visiting Pam!! I hope you enjoy them!!! These are fabulous with walnuts or even craisins if you don’t want to brave this weather!!
It’s not 1st January yet…so I guess a cookie or two won’t make a difference! 😉
A cookie or two never hurts in my opinion – all in moderation 🙂