Intro

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.

 

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Brown Butter Ginger Cookies with 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.

52 Responses to “Brown Butter Ginger Cookies with Mascarpone Cream”

  1. Erin | The Law Student's Wife

    Oh what a treat these would be on Halloween or any other night. I have a serious penchant for ginger anything, and these brown buttery puffs of gingerbread would be a spicy-sweet holiday cookie I didn’t know my life was missing.

    • Sharon

      I’ve made these cookies twice now and both times they came out flat not cake like at all. The second time I used baking powder instead of soda and they are the same,crackled but flat.
      I used my oven thermometer to make sure the oven was not too hot. Any ideas why this would happen?

      • Reyna

        Do you use a silicone baking mat on your cookie sheet? That seems to help my cookies not be so flat.

  3. Brenda

    Bring on the sugar. I’m not afraid. On another sugary note: what recipe do you follow for shortbread cookies/bars?

  5. Hazel

    Lovely cookies – how many does this recipe make? I have a cookie exchange to go to and am considering these. I need six dozen.
    Thanks!!!

    • Ashley Rodriguez

      Hazel – Oh goodness, that would have been good to include there. Since they are a sandwich cookie they really didn’t make that many. Just shy of 2 dozen if I remember correctly. But of course the recipe is easily multiplied. 🙂

  7. Cookie and Kate

    It is sugar season, isn’t it? I love how you balanced the sweetness of these cookies with spicy ginger. And mascarpone cream? I’ll take five, please.

  9. Kathryn

    Oh perfect! My only problem with this time of year is that there just aren’t enough days to try all the cookie recipes that I want to! These are definitely going to be high on the list though – so lovely with the mascarpone!

  15. Megan

    Wow, I think I need to add these to my Christmas cookie baking list this year. They look amazing!

  16. Becca Cole

    I have been looking for a recipe for soft ginger cookies for so long – mine always come out a little too crunch. I’m so excited to try this one!

  18. Sarah

    Warm gingerbread spices are just perfect for christmas. Since it’s SO HOT down here in Australia, I’m thinking this would make a perfect ice cream sandwich.

  20. Christie {Pepper Lynn}

    These look lovely, Ashley! It’s not even December yet, but I, too, am feeling the crunch to be able to make all the cookies I have in mind before Christmas. It seems the more I learn about food, the more I realize there are countless variations which I’ve never tried. Love seeing new recipes like this.

  22. Gaby

    love love loving these little cookies – perfect for a little holiday tray of sweets that I have to make for Thomas’ boss! Thanks lady

  27. Jess

    Good morning, Ashley! Eli and I are in full-on Hannukah party planning mode this morning. My first stop: your site! I’m overhauling the dessert table this year, and these cookies have made the short list, for sure. Off to explore your recipe index now. xo.

  28. Kristina

    a mashup of Vader and Batman sounds fun to me! and isn’t it just a bonus of parenthood to eat a couple pieces of candy after the kids go to bed?

    these sound phenomenal – I love that last photo.

  30. Amber B

    I made these this weekend and I wish I had made more! I didn’t make the cream because I was giving most of them away as a gift for a dinner I attended but they were delicious none the less. I had some candied ginger in my pantry that needed to get used up so I minced that up and added to the cookies. It added that little bit of “spice” that ginger has which you can’t get in ground ginger. Thanks for the recipe! My husband has requested these make it into the rotation!

  31. molly

    oh, good lord, ashley, i think you’ve hit every last one of my buttons with this one.

    brown butter. ginger. mascarpone. geez. i’m sunk. thank you. (because i needed another cookie 🙂

  32. The Food Hound

    AHHH, these look so good! I know, I feel guilty only posting sweet things, too- I actually don’t make a lot of sweet things for waistline purposes, but lately my actual meals have not been as blog-worthy as I would have hoped (AKA decent enough to eat once, but recipes thrown in the trash, never to be made again). The sweet things are turning out well, so they get posted.

  33. Axon Parker

    I just made these for a cookie exchange – garnered rave reviews and recipe requests! Thank you. I have read your blog for a long time and am especially fond of your date night menus. My husband and I have followed your example often:) The hot buttered rums seem like they might be just the thing for a date night….

  35. Lisa

    Your blog is just amazing. Although I have been cooking for many years professionally but am a virtual infant at the website/blog/social media thing. I am having so much fun browsing other blog site while I recover from knee surgery. Just wanted to let you know that everything looks and sounds amazing!

  36. Noelle

    Loved this recipe! One of the very few recipes I’ve found where the amount of filling matches the rest of the recipe. For sure a new favorite!