Gingerbread Cookies are spiced, soft and firm cookies made with whole wheat flour, ginger powder, spices and kakvi (a molasses like syrup made from sugar cane juice). These cookies can also be made with molasses or brown sugar or jaggery.
First grease the baking tray with some butter and set aside.
Now take the softened butter in a mixing bowl.
Add the molasses or kakvi. If using jaggery, then add the jaggery powder in 3 to 4 tablespoons hot water. Mix well till the jaggery melts. If impurities are there, then filter the jaggery syrup. Then add it to the butter.
Begin to mix and beat this mixture.
I have used wired whisk to mix the butter with the kakvi. You can also use an electric beater.
Mix and lightly beat this mixture. Keep aside.
In a separate bowl or plate, sift whole wheat flour, baking soda, ginger powder, cinnamon powder, clove powder and nutmeg powder.
Now add the entire sifted dry ingredients to the lightly beaten butter+molasses mixture.
Gently and lightly fold or mix.
Then add hot water. Mix everything together and gather to form a dough. Do not knead. Just gently mix or fold.
If the mixture is loose or sticky, then add 2 to 3 tablespoons more of the flour. If the mixture looks dry and crumbly, then add 1 to 3 tbsp of hot water and mix again.
Cover and place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 to 45 minutes.
Baking gingerbread cookies
Later, remove and pinch small balls from the cookie dough. Gently roll to a neat ball. Then press and flatten them.
Place the cookies with an inch space between them on the baking tray. Preheat oven at 180 degrees C/356 degrees F for 15 minutes before you begin to bake the cookies.
Sprinkle some sugar granules on the cookies. Lightly press the sugar granules on the cookies. You can also use brown sugar to sprinkle on the cookies.
Bake the cookies at 180 degrees C/356 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or till the cookies appear light golden. Do not over bake the cookies. I baked in two batches.
Wait for one minute after removing the cookies from the oven. With a spatula remove each cookie and place on a wired tray to let them cool.
Once cooled at room temperature, store them in an airtight jar. The recipe yields about 500 grams of cookies.
Serve Gingerbread Cookies as a sweet snack or a tea time snack.
Notes
* If using brown sugar, add about ½ cup of it. Also add 3 to 4 tablespoons of water at room temperature when you add the sugar to the butter.
You can skip cinnamon, clove and nutmeg powder if you prefer.
Instead of ginger powder, you can also add 3 teaspoons of fresh ginger paste or finely minced/grated ginger.
The recipe can be halved or doubled easily.
If you are not a fan of whole wheat flour, use all-purpose flour. For cookies made with all-purpose flour, you will need to add less water.
The approximate nutrition info is for 1 gingerbread cookie made from this recipe.