This recipe appears in Barefoot Contessa At Home, page 192.

Last week was a busy cooking week for me. I made a total of three different recipes! Earlier this week I posted about the first two which you can read about here and here.

But, I still haven’t written about the dessert that I made last week — until now. For dessert last week I made the Ultimate Ginger Cookie. This was definitely a new type of dessert for me since I am usually not a fan of gingerbread. But, I have to admit, these cookies were tasty!

Think of this cookie as a Gingerbread Man you would make during the holiday season, but with the flavor turned up a few notches. Not only did this cookie give me the tasty and warm feelings found in regular gingerbread cookies, but it also included crystallized ginger which adds a punch of flavor when you bit into one of the pieces.

Covered in sugar and cracked on top, these cookies are chewy and crisp at the same time. I think that has to do with them being covered in sugar prior to baking. The recipe doesn’t make that many cookies…less than a dozen and a half, but that’s actually a good thing! These cookies are best the day they are made. They begin to get too hard after a full 24 to 36 hours. Yes, you can microwave them for 10 to 15 seconds to soften them up again, but it’s not the same.

I originally made these cookies with the intention of using them in another recipe in the same cookbook, however I thought better of it. When it comes time for me to make the Pumpkin Mousse, I may just whip these up again, since it was a quick and simple recipe.