Gingered Carrot Cookies
I made these gingered carrot cookies a few weeks ago, and I think they just look like autumn. Plus they remind me of carrot cake, which I like a lot. They are from Dorie Greenspan’s monstrous cookbook on baking, which has proved to be a very delectable purchase. My love for ginger is pretty much second only to my love for garlic, so I ended up trying these because I was searching the index of this book for the answer to a ginger craving. Now that I have made these, I can give my full attention to my chocolate craving…
Ginger Carrot Cookies
from Baking by Dorie Greenspan
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar – packed
1 large egg
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup golden raisins*
½ cup roughly chopped walnuts*
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat and set aside.
Whisk together flour, nutmeg, ginger, salt and baking powder. Beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Add both sugars and beat till smooth. I used a stand mixer for this and the whole thing comes together very quickly. Add one egg to the butter and sugar mixture and beat for another 2 minutes.
Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and add in the dry ingredients ( in three stages) and vanilla. Once the mixture comes together, add in shredded carrots , nuts, coconut and raisins. Dough will be thick.
Place tablespoons of dough on the baking sheet, leave about one inch between each cookie. I used a regular sized ice cream scoop for the job instead of a tablespoon and I like the uniform sized cookies. (and it bakes evenly too).
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are brown. Cool cookies completely on a rack before storing.
*I don’t really like raisins so I used 1 ½ cups walnuts instead.
