Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book - Bruce Weinstein [33]
3. Lightly dust a clean, dry work surface and your hands with flour. Turn the dough out and knead just until it forms a smooth mass, about 30 seconds. Divide in thirds and cover them with a clean kitchen towel.
4. Lightly dust the work surface again with flour and roll one of the thirds to a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Flour the dough and the rolling pin only as necessary. Use a large gingerbread-man cookie cutter to cut the dough into the desired shapes, then use a metal spatula to transfer them carefully to the prepared baking sheet. Gather any scraps, lightly dust again with flour, and roll out a second time, creating additional gingerbread men. Decorate the cookies with the raisins and red hots. For gingerbread men, make raisin eyes and red hot mouths; or raisin eyes and mouths, then use the red hots for buttons on their coats.
5. Bake for 4 minutes, then rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Bake for another 4 minutes, or until the cookies feel dry but still a little soft. Cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Cool the baking sheets for 5 more minutes and regrease them before baking additional batches, as necessary; or work with two baking sheets, preparing one while the other bakes.
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NOTE: Because of the interaction of essential oils, ground ginger goes stale quickly. For the best flavor, make sure yours is fresh—no more than 2 months from purchase.
Recommended storage
2 days at room temperature
1 month in the freezer
A SIMPLE CHOCOLATE FROSTING
MAKES ABOUT 3/4 CUP
You can bake the gingerbread men without any decoration, and then frost them before sticking on the red hots and other candies—just make sure the cookies are completely cool before frosting them. We suggest this simple recipe, guaranteed to up the chocolate quotient quite a bit and satisfy all the little chocoholics in your life. The frosting hardens fast, so use it the moment it’s ready.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
11/2 tablespoons heavy cream
11/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1. In a large bowl, beat the butter, cocoa powder, cream, corn syrup, and vanilla with an electric mixer at medium speed; continue beating until smooth and thick, about 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
2. Beat in the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, allowing each addition to be fully incorporated before adding the next. Beat an additional minute once all the sugar is incorporated; spread immediately on the cooled cookies using an offset or icing spatula.
CHOCOLATE GINGERSNAPS
Here’s the classic gingersnap with a chocolate twist. The cookies are thin, waferlike, and crisp, spiked with molasses and ginger. With a cup of tea, they’re the perfect antidote to a cold winter night—or the right accompaniment to a crisp fall afternoon.
MAKES ABOUT 3 DOZEN SMALL COOKIES
Nonstick spray
11/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
3 tablespoons cocoa powder, preferably natural, sifted
2 teaspoons ground ginger (see Note, page 85)
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening (2 ounces)
1/4 cup molasses, preferably unsulphured
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg white, at room temperature
1. Position the racks in the bottom and top thirds of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray two large baking sheets with nonstick spray; set aside. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until uniform; set aside as well.
2. Beat the shortening, molasses, and brown sugar in a large bowl until creamy, using an electric mixer at medium speed. Continue beating until