Okay, this smells/looks like Christmas in a cookie! It’s got all the right elements. It’s from Benjamina Ebuela, from the Great British Bake Off series which I slightly adapted. The taste is rich with treacle – like a molasses/corn syrup mix, with the heat of ginger, lots of it and muscovado sugar – umami plus for the mouth. Christmas Treat #2 is Ginger and Treacle Crinkle cookies.
I’ve ramped up the flavor of ginger by using candied ginger which I shaved (cut really really thin) and then chopped up with about 2 tbsp of the flour mixture – just so the ginger wouldn’t stick to my knife. This got added back to the flour mixture and mixed well with a fork. I encourage you to pick up the muscovado sugar, sold in most grocery stores. If you don’t want to grow your pantry, use dark brown sugar instead. Light brown sugar will not give you the depth that you get with muscovado. It will still work, but without that depth of flavor. The final sweet musky component is demerara – do not dismiss this as frivolous. Trust me, it makes the cookie! As for treacle, I used Lyle’s Golden Syrup, use corn syrup or for a deeper taste – molasses (but not black strap).
Candied ginger can also a bit hard to find these days. I got mine from a Longos location in East York. No one in Richmond Hill seemed to carry it. It is worth having this in the house, if you feel a scratchy throat (remember we used to get those before Covid became the disease of bad choices) coming on, chop up a piece of candied ginger and add it to your cup of tea or even just boiling water (oh and so good with brandy and hot water).
I’m making these extra small and in a few different shapes – small 3/4″ diameter balls, logs and crescents (pictured above/below), I think they will look nice on the sweet table! Wash your hands, wear a mask, get vaccinated, socialize according to the guidelines and above all, be safe! As always – enjoy!
Ingredients
125g unsalted butter, melted
200g light muscovado sugar
50g treacle – I used Lyle’s Golden Syrup
1 large egg
260g plain flour
3 tsp ground ginger
5 pieces of candied ginger, shaved thin and chopped
½ tsp allspice or clove powder
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
100g demerara sugar – to roll the cookie dough in
150g icing sugar – to roll the cookie dough in
Instructions
• In a medium bowl, mix the flour, ginger, allspice, baking soda and salt
• In another bowl, mix the butter and sugar until combined
• Add the treacle and stir, add the egg and stir well
• Add the dry ingredients into the wet, and stir to combine – the dough will look like a thick cake batter
• Cover and chill in the fridge for three hours or ideally overnight
• Heat the oven to 350f and line two baking trays with parchment paper
• Put the demerara sugar in a shallow bowl and the icing sugar in another
• Roll the cookie dough into ½” diameter log and cut into 1” pieces
• Roll each piece in the demerara sugar and then generously in the icing sugar – this gives it that distinctive crinkle we love to see
• Arrange on a pan leaving about 2” space between cookies – they will spread
• Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the edges are firm
• Let them cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack and leave to cool completely
• These will keep for six days in an airtight container.
• I’m keeping mine for my sweet table on Christmas, so I just need to hide them until then!
Well Why Not! (Substitutions and/or Changes)
• This is already an amazing tasting crunchy gingery cookie, but add a couple of tablespoons of freshly grated ginger into the batter
• Chop up some pecans and toss it in with the mix
• Mix some treacle with icing sugar to give and drizzle over the cookies – sprinkle with finely shaved/grated candied ginger on top
