This recipe has been in my family for 40+ years. Mom started making it for Christmas morning when she came across the recipe in the newspaper one year, then my dad took over and it became known as dad’s bread. You can ice it but I prefer it plain toasted with butter. We eat it Christmas morning but it is good anytime!

Directions:

Ingredients

These are my new favorite cookies!!! If you love ginger these are wonderful – especially with a cup of tea. You could use lemon instead of Orange for a change of flavor. I adapted these from Abigail Johnson Dodge from Fine Cooking

Ingredients

These are similar to Russian Tea Cakes or Mexican wedding cookies.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup of walnuts, toasted
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• powdered sugar for sifting on top

Directions

Toast Nuts: place nuts on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 8-10 minutes, until lightly toasted. Cool completely. Place them in the food processor (fitted with the metal blade) with 2 tablespoons of flour from recipe. Process until finely ground (not a paste).

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or hand mixer) beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in vanilla. Add the remaining flour and salt and mix until combined. Stir in the nuts.

Cover and refrigerate the dough about 1 hour.

Form the chilled dough into 1 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on ungreased non-stick baking sheet Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes until slightly brown. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire rack for about 5 minutes.

Put powdered sugar in a sieve and sift over slightly cooled cookies..

Store in an airtight container.

The double hit of ginger here comes from both ground ginger and crystallized ginger.

By Abigail Johnson Dodge from Fine Cooking

Ingredients

• 10 oz. (2-1/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2-3/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp Cardamon (I added this)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. table salt
• 6 oz. (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1-1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 3 Tbs. finely chopped crystallized ginger

Directions

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment or nonstick baking liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar with an electric mixer (a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a hand-held) on medium-high speed until well blended. Add the egg, molasses, and crystallized ginger; beat well. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until well blended.

Pour the remaining 1/3 cup sugar into a shallow bowl. Using a 1-Tbs. cookie scoop, a small ice cream scoop, or two tablespoons, shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in the sugar to coat. Set the balls 1-1/2 to 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through baking, until the cookies are puffed and the bottoms are lightly browned, 12 to 14 min. If you touch a cookie, it should feel dry on the surface but soft inside. The surface cracks will look a bit wet. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for 5 min. and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. When cool, store in airtight containers.

Ginger flavor intensifies with time, making these cookies excellent candidates for long keeping. When stored in an airtight container, the cookies remain impressively delicious for up to five days from baking. Well wrapped, the cookies will keep for several weeks in the freezer.

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 10-1/2 oz. (2-1/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. table salt
• 8 oz. (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
• 8 oz. cold cream cheese, cut into 10 pieces

For the filling:

• 6 Tbs. raspberry or apricot jam

For the topping:

• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbs. water

Make the dough:

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a large (11-cup or larger) food processor. Pulse briefly to blend the ingredients. Scatter the butter and cream cheese pieces over the dry ingredients. Pulse until the dough begins to come together in large (about 1-inch) clumps. This can also be done with a hand mixer if you do not have a food processor.

Divide the dough into four pieces and on a lightly floured surface, knead each until smooth. Shape each into a flat 6×3-inch rectangle and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until well chilled, about 1-1/2 hours. (The dough may be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for 1 month before proceeding with the recipe.)

Shape & fill cookies:

Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the dough on a piece of lightly floured plastic wrap into a rectangle slightly larger than 5 x13 inches (if refrigerated overnight, let sit at room temperature until pliable enough to roll). Dust with additional flour as needed. Using a sharp knife, trim off the ragged edges to make a 5×13-inch rectangle. Position the dough with one long edge facing you. Using a metal spatula (offset is best), spread evenly with 1-1/2 Tbs. of the jam. Using the plastic wrap as an aid, roll up the dough jelly roll-style beginning with one long side. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. Repeat with remaining dough and jam. Be careful not to use too much jam or it oozes out and gets messy and the bottoms of the cookies burn.

Bake cookies:

Position racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 350ºF. Line two cookie sheets with parchment or nonstick baking liners. In a small bowl, mix the egg and water with a fork until blended.

Unwrap one roll and set on a cutting board. Using a serrated knife and a ruler, cut the roll into 1-1/4-inch-wide pieces. Arrange cookies seam side down 1 inch apart on the cookie sheets. Repeat with the remaining rolls. Lightly brush the tops with the egg mixture (you won’t need it all). Bake until the rugelach are golden brown, 28 to 30 minutes, swapping the cookie sheets’ positions about halfway through. Let cool on the sheets for about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Make ahead tips

The filled dough logs can be wrapped well and frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe.

You can make these any shape you want. I don’t frost them, just use sanding sugar but these could be frosted. I have had this recipe a long time but it might be adapted form a Taste of home recipe.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 4 cups All Purpose Unbleached Gold Medal flour, Sifted
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger or roasted ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Sanding sugar

Directions

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Add egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture.

On a lightly floured board, roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with floured cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes until firm. Sprinkle with sanding sugar while still warm. Put on wire racks to cool.

These are buttery and full of cinnamon. Great with a cup of tea. These also freeze well.

Ingredients

• 12 oz. (2-2/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour (Gold Medal)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. table salt
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 lb. (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbs. ground cinnamon

Directions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar to blend. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1-1/2 cups of the sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the eggs until thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl again. With the mixer on low speed, slowly blend in the flour until incorporated, about 30 seconds.

In a small bowl, mix the cinnaamon and remaining 1/4  cup sugar. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls into the cinnamon sugar and roll around to coat. Set the coated balls of dough about 3 inches apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake until golden brown on the edges and slightly soft in the center, 15 to 18 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 1 minute before transferring them to a rack to cool.

Makes about 3 dozen

From the best of Fine Cooking

If you are an Indian food purist stop right here – this is not your recipe… BUT if you like an easy crock pot meal with a little less oil/calories and a lot less fuss than the traditional recipe read on.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
• 3 cans tomato puree (30 oz)
• 1 1/2 cups plain greek yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons Garam Masala (I like Penzey’s mix)
• 1/2 Teaspoons smoked paprika
• 2 Teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoons grated stick cinnamon
• Pepper
• 2 sweet yellow onions, sliced thin
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil (for frying onion)
• 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2-3/4 Cup Whole Milk or coconut milk
• 1/2 Teaspoons cornstarch
• Brown or white Basmati Rice

Directions

• In a large mixing bowl combine first 10 ingredients until combined. Pour half of sauce mixture into the crockpot, add the chicken and then cover with the remaining sauce.
• Cook for 6-8 hours.
• In large saucepan heat olive oil and saute onions slowly until caramelized.
• In small mixing bowl whisk whole milk or Coconut milk with cornstarch. Pour into crockpot and stir. Allow mixture to cook 20 minutes.
• Add caramelized onions.
• Prepare rice according to directions.
• Serve Chicken Tikka Masalal over rice with Naan.

Spices:

Penzey’s a wonderful spice shop where I used to buy spices every time I went to visit family in CT. I miss going there but you can order online.

https://www.penzeys.com/shop/spices/