• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

MAKES 12 CHEESECAKE TARTLETS.

GINGERBREAD PEOPLE

An afternoon spent making, baking, and decorating these nostalgic cutout cookies is perfect for preheating memories, folding in both friends and family, and baking up good times.

1 (18.25-ounce) package spice cake mix

¾ cup all-purpose flour

2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup molasses

1 recipe Vanilla Icing (see page 376)

Red Hots cinnamon candies or raisins, optional

Place the cake mix, flour, ginger, and cinnamon in a large bowl; stir to combine. Add the eggs, oil, and molasses. Mix with a wooden spoon until well blended and all dry ingredients are moistened. Chill, covered, for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 375°F and spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Position racks to upper and lower positions of oven.

Sprinkle a work surface with a thin layer of flour. Set out rolling pin, 4-inch gingerbread person cookie cutters, metal spatula, and cooling racks.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into fourths. Place ¼ of the dough on floured surface (cover and return remaining dough to refrigerator). Flour the rolling pin and roll dough to ¼-inch thickness. Flour cookie cutters and cut out shapes. Transfer dough to prepared cookie sheets with spatula. Re-roll any scraps, then repeat with remaining dough, rolling one fourth at a time.

Place one sheet on each oven rack. Bake for 4 minutes. Rotate the sheets (place the sheet from the bottom rack on the top rack and the sheet from the top rack on the bottom rack. This ensures even baking). Bake for 4–7 minutes for large shapes or until center is puffed and sinks back.

Remove from oven and let cookies rest on cookie sheets for 1 minute. Transfer with metal spatula to racks and cool completely. Prepare Vanilla Icing, or other icing of choice. Decorate cookies with icing and candies or raisins, if desired.

MAKES ABOUT 24 4-INCH COOKIES.

GINGER LIME BISCOTTI

1 (16.5-ounce) roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup finely chopped candied ginger

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons grated lime zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 recipe Lime Icing (see page 368), optional

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Break up the cookie dough into large bowl; let stand for 10–15 minutes to soften. Add the flour, candied ginger, ground ginger, lime zest, and vanilla extract to the cookie dough; mix well with your fingers, the paddle attachment of an electric stand mixer, or a wooden spoon.

Divide dough into two equal halves. On the cookie sheet, shape each dough half into a 12 x 2-inch rectangle, ¾-inch high, spacing the dough halves about 3 inches apart.

Bake for 26–28 minutes or until the logs are deep golden brown and spring back in the center when touched. Remove sheet from oven; keep oven on.

Using two pancake turners, lift logs, one at a time, from the cookie sheet to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut one of the logs into ¾-inch-wide slices. Note: for longer biscotti, cut at a deep diagonal; for shorter biscotti, cut log crosswise. Repeat with second log. Place slices on the same cookie sheet; do not worry about the spacing.

Bake slices 5 minutes; remove from oven and turn over all of the slices. Return cookie sheet to oven and bake 5 minutes longer. Remove sheet from oven and immediately transfer biscotti to a wire rack; cool completely. If desired, drizzle each biscotti with Lime Icing.

MAKES 28 BISCOTTI.

GINGER LOVER’S BISCOTTI

One of my favorite family rituals is afternoon tea. We stop what we’re doing, plug in the kettle, and load up a tray with an assortment of nibbles. This biscotti is a favorite with my ginger-loving parents and siblings. Don’t be put off by the addition of black pepper to the dough—it enhances the peppery bite of the ginger.

1 (18.25-ounce) package vanilla cake mix

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

¼ teaspoon finely