Whiskey Dunkin’ Cookies
Spicy Whisky Dunkin’ Cookies
Yield: 20 – 22 cookies
Ingredients:
7 Tablespoons softened butter
6 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup Sugar syrup (recipe below)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk
Process:
Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.
Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a flat surface.
Melt the butter, sugar, and golden syrup together in a small saucepan. Place on a trivet and allow to cool.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
Whisk the egg yolk until creamy.
The sugar mixture must be cool before adding the egg yolk or it will cook.
Pour the sugar mixture into the well. Stir. The dough will become very stiff.
Transfer the dough to the parchment paper on the counter and knead gently until the flour is incorporated. Dough may be slightly sticky but do not add additional flour..
Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and place it on one of the parchment lined trays. Place the balls 2” apart as they will spread slightly. Continue to roll until all of the dough is used.
Bake, turning the baking sheets after 5 minutes, for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies have spread and have cracked on the top. They will be soft. Use a toothpick to test for doneness. It should come out clean. Do not continue to bake until they are firm or they will be overdone.
Remove from oven.
Allow them to sit for 10 minutes on the sheet before transferring them with a spatula to a rack to cool completely.
Allow them to sit on the rack overnight.
Place in an airtight container.
Serve with whiskey, cocoa, hot apple cider or similar liquids. These cookies are meant to be dunked. Dunk the cookie briefly in the liquid and the wait briefly before eating to allow the liquid to permeate the cookie. These are a very structured cookie and are meant to hold up to the dunikin’ without leaving crumbs in the chosen liquid.
Sugar Syrup
Yield: 1½ cups
Ingredients:
½ cup + 2 Tablespoons cold water
2 cups Turbinado sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed, strained lemon juice
Process:
Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and stir to combine.
Bring the sugar water to a boil, stirring gently and often to prevent it from burning.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Once it boils, add the lemon juice and stir.
Reduce the heat to a very low setting to obtain a very gentle simmer and is more steam than bubbles.
Leave the saucepan uncovered.
Allow the syrup to simmer for an hour or longer or until the syrup reaches the soft ball stage. It should register between 240 and 250°F. on a candy thermometer.
Turn off the heat and place on a heat resistant surface until just warm.
Pour the syrup into a sterilzed canning jar and let it cool completely before sealing with a canning lid.
Store the golden syrup in the icebox.
Remove the syrup from the icebox and allow it to come to room temperature before using.
Ginger Dunkers
Yield: 32-36 cookies
Ingredients:
12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup granulated sugar, in a separate bowl.
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons freshly grated, peeled ginger
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
2 ¼ cups flour
Process:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place a rack in the middle of the oven.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter. Add ¼ cup granulated sugar and the brown sugar and cream until light and fluffy.
Whisk the egg until creamy and uniform in color.
Add the unsulphered molasses to the egg and whisk until fully incorporated.
Into a medium-sized bowl, sift together the salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and flour.
Whisk dry ingredients to thoroughly combine, and beat until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Do not overbeat.
Place the remaining ½ cup sugar in a shallow dish.
Roll 1 tablespoons of dough into a ball.
Roll each ball in the reserved sugar in the bowl.
Place each ball on the parchment paper covered baking sheet
Take a one cup measure and flatten the ball to approximately 1/4” thick before placing the next ball. Leave 1/2” space between each flatten cookie.
Repeat the process until the baking sheets are full.
Place baking sheets in the middle of the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies done. Do not overbake. If necessary, bake a second batch.
Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Store cookies in an airtight container overnight before eating.