Today: Gingersnaps and Cardamom Cookies
O.K. you guys. I have a confession to make. I love cookies. There! I said it! Don't judge me! Cookies are awesome. There is no problem, physical, emotional, or spiritual, that cannot be made better by a delicious and well-crafted cookie.
My mother makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the entire world. No joke. There are people all over the country who would agree with this. They are called "Aunt Sharon's Chockie Bickies" which is a reference to a delightful cartoon from years ago called "Count Duckula" which is about a vampire duck that only sucks the "blood" of vegetables. (Trust me, it's hilarious). Anyway, Duckula still has a nanny that lives with him. Her name is "Nanny". She has a perpetually broken wing and calls Count Duckula "Ducky-boos". She calls her tea-time treats "Chockie Bickies". There's a little Schaefer family anecdote for you to tell at parties and various other social gatherings.
I did not make chocolate chip cookies (though I did inherit the skill from my Mama). Instead, I decided to try two cookies I haven't tried making before.
Gingersnaps. When I was a little girl, my dad's parents, Gramma and Grampa Schaefer were visiting (I think we were living in North Dakota at the time). Grampa had gotten a huge box of gingersnaps and he and I were eating them on the couch watching baseball or Richard Simmons or something. My mom was running out on some errand or something and she asked my Grampa to not let me eat too many gingersnaps, because they would make me sick and ruin my supper. During the time she was gone, Grampa and I just kept dipping our hands into the box of cookies. Not speaking, not looking at each other. Just comfortable in our mutual love of far too many gingersnaps. My mother was proven right (as she always is) and I had a heck of a stomach ache when she got home. She was all "Bill, did you let her eat all those gingersnaps?" I don't really remember Grampa's response but it was probably a shrug for her and a wink for me. Even though my tummy hurt, it was still 100% awesome. To this day, I do not regret eating those gingersnaps.
So! Here are the gingersnaps I made!
It's more of a close-up of their adorable, golden-brown bottoms, but you get the picture. I took the recipe from Coconut & Lime. I liked this recipe because it didn't require me to roll out and cut any dough. They were drop cookies! Yay! The recipe called for Demerara sugar, but I didn't have any on hand, so I used Turbinado sugar instead. 
This is turbinado, or "raw" sugar. The differences between this and other sugars is something about molasses or what not. If you want to know exactly, go here.The raw sugar is used to roll the dough in before they are baked.
Deeeeeeelicious. The flavor of these cookies was very good, but they weren't very crispy. There wasn't much "snap" in the gingersnap. It looks like I might not have flattened them enough before baking. Perhaps I will flatten them more next time.
Moving on! Cardamom cookies.
I have another confession. I don't like Indian food. My God, I've tried. I've tried so hard to like it. The spices are weird and unsettling. This is distressing to my husband and my youngest sister, both of whom looooooooove Indian food. We go to the Twin Cities sometimes to have Indian food for Jonathan's birthday. I always bring Amanda (my sister) with us, since I figure Jonathan would enjoy it more with someone who is enjoying the food as well. I usually just load up on naan and stop on the way home for a Blizzard. So, when I saw this recipe, I was a little wary. I don't like cardamom in savory dishes.
(Nor do I like cinnamon in savory dishes. That's why I call Indian food "Cinnamon Beef" which, now that I look at it, could be very offensive to some people. My apologies. It's really in reference to having corned beef and cabbage one St. Patrick's Day at Jonathan's best friend Rick's and his lady, Susan's house. Susan and I were not that enthusiastic about the beef. We called it cinnamon beef. Anyway, I digress.)
So! I thought I might like cardamom in a sweet dish. This, sadly, was not to be. I did not like them. Not surprisingly, Jonathan, Amanda and someone in Jonathan's D&D group (nerd alert!) all liked them. So, who knows? Maybe you'll like them.
Cardamom Cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together flour and cream of tartar into a medium bowl. In a large bowl, cream butter, cardamom, baking soda and salt. Add sugar and beat until well combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, until cookies are a light golden brown. Let them rest on a baking sheet for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
While we're on the subject of cookies, let me introduce you to the cookie-baker's best friend: the disher. "What is a disher?" you ask, one eyebrow rising in inquiry, your eyes filled with confusion and a little rage. This, my friends, is a disher:
"Oh! A lunch lady scoop!" you exclaim. I close my eyes and slowly shake my head. "Yes. A lunch lady scoop. This is its technical name,"I say.
Anyway, this tool is really awesome for making uniformly-sized cookies. I have three different sizes of them!
See? I usually use the smallest one for cookies. Unless I want to make really big cookies. They are super handy! There is a little sweepy-arm that scrapes the inside of the scoop when you squeeze the handle! What mad genius thought of this?! Anyway, I got these at the kitchen store at the mall in Eau Claire, but you might be able to get them at a Target or a Walmart- type store.
Well, there you have it. Cookies.
Cookies make everything better.
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