It is well known among the members of the Tea Adventurers' Guild that Auntie Duchess has a secret recipe book, the contents of which are quite coveted. However, despite even the best efforts of Mittens III AND Mittens IV, Auntie Duchess seemed to be impervious to all manner of winkling. It was only when thoroughly plied with a batch of the Highlander's Linzer Bars that she agreed to share with us a few select recipes from her book of secrets. Hardly believing our good fortune (and that we hadn't thought of it sooner) we decided that, in keeping with the joyous holiday spirit of giving, we would share our intellectual bounty with you. Below is the recipe for a crowd favorite: ginger creams.
Ginger Creams
The Lady's suggested tea pairings: The Scottish Tea or Alchemy
Yield: Approximately 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
For cookies:
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
For icing:
1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring (or whatever flavoring you prefer, lemon is also nice)
1 & 1/2 tablespoon cream
For cookies:
Mix butter, sugar, egg, molasses, and water thoroughly.
Sift in flour. Add salt, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Blend it all together and chill the dough. Exact length of time for chilling is not too important. You just want the dough to firm up a bit.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake about 8 minutes, or until no imprint remains when touched lightly. While still warm, frost with flavored icing.
Store in a sealed container so they don't dry out. They should be moist and soft.
For icing:
Blend together all icing ingredients and apply to cookies immediately, before it starts to set up.
Note: Getting every lump of confectioner's sugar out of the icing can prove to be an exhausting task. Please don't stress over it. A few small lumps of sugar are entirely undetectable to the mouth. We tested.
The Lady's suggested tea pairings: The Scottish Tea or Alchemy
Yield: Approximately 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
For cookies:
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
For icing:
1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring (or whatever flavoring you prefer, lemon is also nice)
1 & 1/2 tablespoon cream
For cookies:
Mix butter, sugar, egg, molasses, and water thoroughly.
Sift in flour. Add salt, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Blend it all together and chill the dough. Exact length of time for chilling is not too important. You just want the dough to firm up a bit.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake about 8 minutes, or until no imprint remains when touched lightly. While still warm, frost with flavored icing.
Store in a sealed container so they don't dry out. They should be moist and soft.
For icing:
Blend together all icing ingredients and apply to cookies immediately, before it starts to set up.
Note: Getting every lump of confectioner's sugar out of the icing can prove to be an exhausting task. Please don't stress over it. A few small lumps of sugar are entirely undetectable to the mouth. We tested.
