Monday, July 09, 2007

Mondays with Maida - English Gingersnaps #2

Maida Heatter's English Gingersnaps #2
Page 234 in the old book / page 258 in the new book

This cookie is a smaller, spicier, and orange/lemon-scented (and yes - snappier!) variation of last week's English Gingersnaps #1. I loved the orange and lemon rind in these - it really brightened the flavor and made the cookies a little out of the ordinary.

The dough for these cookies has slightly less flour than the original recipe, so the dough is softer and needs a longer chilling time. After chilling, the dough is very easy to handle and shape. These gingersnaps are a more conventional size, so you get a generous 80 or so cookies per batch.

The cookie panel is a little short-handed this week. I really thought I would catch Suzanne and Denny later in the week, but a late flight delayed Suzanne's return and Denny worked from home at the end of the week, so the cookies I'd saved for them were enjoyed by someone else - me! Here's the panel (what's left of it, that is)...

Laura: "Yummy and crunchy. These cookies remind me of the wonderful gingersnaps my grandmother would make. Delish! - 4.5"

Terri: "These ginger snaps are a bit spicier with a tinge of orange taste as compared to Gingersnap #1. Also, they are not as chewy and smaller. I prefer the #1 G.S., but if you like spicier - try these. Rating - 4.0"

Overall rating by the panel - 4.3

Next week - Italian Sesame Sticks

Nutrition Facts

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

With positive reviews like that, I'd say this cookie is a winner! An 80 count yield you say? Guess I better halve this recipe. :-)

Cathy said...

Hi Rowena! I liked them a lot - others weren't nearly as enthusiastic as they were about #1. The amount of dough is the same as for #1, it is only because of the cookie size (very small) that there are so many cookies. They're one or two bites each - make the whole batch!

Rowena said...

Hi Cathy, thanks for tipping me on the cookie size. Yep, an 80 count would do just fine in this family!

Regarding your comments on hiking -- the worst part for me is going DOWN a steep grade. It puts alot of stress on my knees which really aren't conditioned like say...billygoats? It makes it even worse when the stony path is rutted and uneven. As for Maddie....that one I'll never have to worry about. The only thing she requires is lots of water. I swear, when she begins puttering out on energy, a couple handfuls of H2O and she's like ZING! Off she goes like a rocket!

Anonymous said...

Cathy, That photo is great. It makes the cup look enormous! The cookies look great, too. I tried a similar cookie a few years back that also called for orange and lemon flavor (also in the form of zest) which I think enhanced the warm ginger flavor. I tried the recipe again and doubled the zest which made it really interesting. Amazing how something so simple can really change the tone of a cookie.

Cathy said...

Hi Mari - it does, doesn't it? I wanted to show the relative size of the cookies (small), but it sort of makes the mug look out of proportion - like Alfred Hitchcock (can't remember which movie, but there's at least one where he actually uses an oversized prop to get that effect). Anyway, about the cookies - yes, it is amazing how a small thing like that can be so effective - I'll definitely remember this for any future ginger snaps!

Anonymous said...

Heh heh...that cute little piggy does look like Mads' wee little cousin. I was disappointed that they weren't selling logo tshirts for the jambon event!

Visual-Voice said...

I'm all over all things ginger... yum!

Cathy said...

Hi Susan! These definitely qualify on that count!