When we were kids, a sick day at home from school usually meant one thing: an afternoon cozy on the couch under a throw blanket, spent sipping ginger ale, watching daytime television and gumming down a few soda crackers. Years later, it turns out Mom’s remedy for an upset stomach was right on the mark; ginger has been used for thousands of years in China, Japan and India as a natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, and to help combat nausea.
Gingersnaps can be an easy (and delicious!) way to incorporate a little extra ginger into your diet. But mass-produced, store-bought gingersnaps can often leave a lot to be desired, particularly for anyone undergoing treatment for some types of cancer; they’re either too dry, brittle and crunchy, making them an impossibility for anyone experiencing the mouth tenderness, sores or difficulty swallowing associated with chemotherapy and radiation treatment, or they’re quite simply not packed with the ginger flavor we crave. We solve this by doing away with the “snap” element of a more traditional gingersnap, with a soft, chewy cookie that’s packed with ginger in three different forms: ground dry ginger to provide satisfying warm ginger notes throughout the cookie, fresh grated ginger root for texture and additional flavor, and chopped up bits of sweetened crystallized ginger to add satisfying pops of earthy, warm flavor to every single sweet bite.
Chewy Triple-the-Ginger Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 sticks salted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1” chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 1/2 cup chopped sweetened crystallized ginger
Directions:
In a stand mixer or large bowl with handheld mixer, cream together butter and brown sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add egg and molasses, and continue beating until combined. Add flour, ground ginger, baking soda and salt, and mix until evenly incorporated. Add fresh and crystallized ginger, and mix until combined. Cover mixture and refrigerate at least two hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use your hands to roll dough into 1-inch balls, then place approximately 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake until cookies are lightly browned around the edges, about 10 minutes. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.