It's the season to BAKE up a storm, even if there's no storm brewing outside (although my oldest is just chompin' at the bit for a BIG SNOW STORM to get here - come on SNOW!!) I'm not much of a baker really...I prefer the freestylin' that happens in cooking and the precise measuring required to bake just doesn't quite do it for me. But, there are a couple of "too good not to bake" recipes in my list that make me pull out my measuring cups once in a while...and they both involve GINGER!
GINGERBREAD COOKIES
Everyone who's tried this recipe loves the fact that these are soft and chewy gingerbread cookies...not rock hard like so many other Gingerbread Cookies I've tasted. So yum - give it a try!
3 1/4 cups all purpose (this year I'm gonna try using 1/2 spelt flour)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup unsulfurized molasses
Combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves - set aside. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar together with mixer. Add egg and molasses and beat until smooth. Add flour mixture and beat on low until combined. Separate dough into two equal parts - roll into a ball and then flatten each one. Put in a ziploc bag or wrap in plastic wrap and then refrigerate for at least an hour (I typically make my dough the day before so it is ready to go on baking day). Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface to approx 1/4 inch thickness, cut with cookie cutter and place on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake 9 to 11 minutes. Cool and then decorate as you like.
GINGER-BANANA WAFFLES
I love these waffles because they are different and taste great. They cook up in a large batch and freeze really well. I've even started making these as part of a care package I give to moms who've just had new babies - they get rave reviews! I'll be making these a couple of days before Christmas, freezing them and then simply warming them in the oven on Christmas morning - simple and mmmm... good!
3 cups all-purpose flour (or try spelt and all purpose flour 1/2 and 1/2)
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
4 large eggs
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 medium bananas, mashed
Preheat waffle iron. Lightly brush with oil. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with a mixer until sugar is dissolved. Beat in milk, molasses, butter and bananas. Combine dry and wet ingredients and blend until dry ingredients are moistened. Put about 1/2 cup of batter into waffle iron. Bake and then serve warm with Maple Syrup and fresh fruit - delish!
And...here's a few tid bits on GINGER that you might find interesting:
1) Fresh ginger can be substituted for ground ginger at a ratio of 6 to 1, although the flavours of fresh and dried ginger are somewhat different
2) Gingerol, or sometimes [6]-gingerol, is the active constituent of fresh ginger and has pain-relieving, fever-reducing, calming, anti-bacterial and healing properties.
3) Ginger has been shown to have ANTI-NAUSEA effects - which explains why my mom and many others made me drink Ginger Ale when I was hit with the flu. A better option than popular soft drinks is to choose Santa Cruz Ginger Ale for a more natural, organic treat - give it a try!
4) If you haven't tried ShaSha Ginger Snaps - they are are great lunch box treat for kids.
Or read more about Ginger on Wikipedia
Happy Holiday baking (and don't forget to let your kids get in on the action - messes can be cleaned up, it's not the end of the world!) Have fun :)
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