Yummy ginger cookies

I love ginger cookies.  I'm always looking for different recipes to try but they usually don't turn out the way I want them to.  I like them to be really spicy with a strong ginger and molasses bite.  These past couple of weeks I've been tweaking a couple of recipes I've found and I think I finally came up with one I like.


One recipe I'm borrowing from uses a large amount of mixed spices instead of a purchased gingerbread spice mix.  The other recipe I'm using was one I found when I was out of molasses and had a serious craving.  Between the two of them, this recipe I came up with isn't bad.


1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup molasses
1 tbsp fresh ginger
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp turmeric


The fresh ginger gives it a little more zing.  The last time I tried powdered ginger it wasn't strong enough, and using just fresh ginger wasn't enough either.  So why not try them both?  :-)


I used coconut oil because I think there are some health benefits to it, but if you want, just use one cup of butter.  Same for the wheat flour.  Just use four cups of white bread flour if you don't want to use wheat.

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, mix the butter, coconut oil, brown sugar, and molasses.  Stir in the egg, fresh ginger and vanilla and mix until smooth.  Add the salt, baking powder and spices, then gradually add the flour and mix until well combined.  It's a pretty stiff dough.  If you don't think your hand mixer is up to it, mix the last bit by hand or use a stand mixer.


Roll into 1" balls and place on greased cookie sheet 1/2 inch apart.  You might want to flatten them because they don't spread very much.


Bake for 15 minutes at 325 degrees F (cookies should be firm).


Yummy.