Not Without Salt

Consider this your fair warning: This blog is about to become sugar laden.

“What’s new?” You may say. To that I say, “Hey, remember last week when I fed you Brussels sprouts? Okay then, we’re ready for sugar.”

I know for a fact that there is at least one sweet reader eager for this recipe. She sent me a friendly reminder as I promised to share the recipe after I posted an Instagram of these very cookies. Steadily the weeks passed and still no recipe from me. Instead there was turkey, brussels and eton mess. (We eat well around here, don’t we?)

Now it’s finally time for Brown Butter Ginger Cookies and there are others in the works, I simply can’t help myself this time of year.

The kids donned their costumes while I browned the butter. It was Halloween and I knew that warm cookies would go nicely with the thrill of a candy haul and the excitement of their cousins nearby. The butter bubbled and spurted as Ivy tucked into her freshly sewn butterfly wings. Roman wore some mash up of Darth Vader and Batman while Baron went to school as Spider Man then in the evening decided he’d rather be a Jedi.

The spicy dough came together before the costumes were complete. A few rounds in and out of the oven and the house smelled of a spice market rich in exotic scents. Their domed exterior sparkled in its sugary coat standing tall and lining up neatly in rows on the cooling rack. As they cooled I combined mascarpone with a bit of honey and threw in a vanilla bean for good measure because cookies are great but a sandwich cookie is something special.

We came home from a hectic, yet successful trick-or-treating adventure and while the kids tore into their candy, Gabe and I ate cookies and drank spiced cider. And once the kids were in bed we may have had some of their candy too – shh.

Brown Butter Ginger Cookies with Honey Mascarpone Cream

These cookies are cake-like in texture, complex in flavor and easy to throw together quickly. If you don’t have mascarpone I imagine cream cheese would fill it’s place nicely, in fact I suppose cream cheese would hold up a bit stiffer than the mascarpone, although I love the rich creaminess of mascarpone – tough choice. I recommend filling only what you plan to eat now then keeping the rest of the cookies in an airtight container and the filling in the fridge – both will keep for a few days.

3/4 cup butter, browned*
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Additional sugar for rolling

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* To brown the butter simply melt in a sauce pan. Let the bubble come to a boil. The milk solids will foam up and as they do watch for them to turn golden. If you have a dark pan you will need to swirl the butter carefully and maybe spoon some on to a white plate to notice the color. You will notice a gently nutty smell wafting from the pan as the solids in the butter start to caramelize. As soon as you see deep golden bits at the bottom of the pan turn off the heat. The butter will continue to brown even as the heat is off so do not let the butter get too dark. Let the butter cool slightly before proceeding with the recipe.

Combine the just warm browned butter with the sugar in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Add the egg and molasses and mix well.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients in another bowl then add to the butter and sugar mixture. Stir until just combined.

Use a spoon to scoop tablespoon size balls of dough. Roll the dough in your hands to form and ball then roll in sugar (I prefer Organic sugar for many reasons, one of which being the granules are bigger and more pronounced on the cookie).

Place on a baking sheet (12 per sheet) and bake at 350*F for 10-12 minutes until puffed and set. If you prefer flatter cookies to the ones you see in my images you can gently press them down before baking.

Honey Mascarpone Cream

8 oz mascarpone
1 – 2 Tb honey
1 vanilla bean

Combine everything in a bowl. Start with 1 tablespoon honey then add more if you’d like. A vanilla bean isn’t necessary but a lovely addition.

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