Double-Ginger Snaps: Bye, Bye, Blackbird

Last night I was looking through my many cookbooks to find a recipe I hadn't tried yet and found Double-Ginger Snaps, which require crystallized ginger pieces.  I remembered finding some in our baking cupboard so I decided to make them first thing in the next morning!

Intense flavor warning: they are VERY gingery!

These cookies are packed full of sweetness and spice in many forms: coarse sugar on the outside with crystallized/candied ginger, molasses, and brown sugar inside.  The lyrics "Sugar's sweet, so is he" from the classic jazz tune "Bye, Bye, Blackbird" are a perfect tangent for these oh-so-sweet-dissolve-in-your-mouth cookies!

Here's "Bye, Bye, Blackbird" sung ever so meltingly by Peggy Lee!

DOUBLE-GINGER SNAPS
Adapted from a Williams-Sonoma recipe

Dry:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Wet:
2/3 cup canola oil
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup light molasses
1 large egg

3/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped

Coating:
1/4 cup coarse sugar (like Sugar in the Raw)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Set aside two baking sheets lined with parchment paper, silpat or silicone liners.

In a medium bowl mix together dry ingredients.  Set aside.

Mix by hand in a large bowl the oil, brown sugar, and molasses.

Then using an electric mixer, add egg.  Mix until egg is incorporated evenly for about 30 seconds.

Add dry ingredients and chopped crystallized ginger.

Spread coarse sugar evenly over the bottom of a large lipped plate.  (I use a Corelle Pasta Bowl.)

Shape dough into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar.

Bake for 13-16 minutes until the tops are set and cracked.  Check to make sure you do not under or over bake them.  Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes.

Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.