frosty mornings and ginger crushes

once green fields are lovingly coated in white, as ol' jack frost holds the earth in a wintery embrace. 
my old brown leather riding boots show our trail as the blades crunch beneath, like brittle sugar candy. i inhale and it burns the inside of my nostrils and top half of my lungs before shooting its way out past my lips like cigarette smoke, only without the stench. i am surrounded by icy air and the vast blue of a cloudless canterbury sky.
such a splendid feeling of fresh freedom is growing within me as i whistle for the horses and watch them trot up to the gate.
this is the coldest of morning so far.
after the ride i will go home and warm my toes by the fire, drink a hot cup of tea and chew on some delicious ginger cookies.

this is one of the first recipes i made while i was working at a top place called river valley lodge. 
it took me a few attempts to get them just how i wanted and i have to admit, i was rather smitten with them.
my first ginger crush. (followed by my second ginger crush on a boy that i met briefly while living in auckland helping out a friend on a look book shoot... but i digress, back to the cookies...) 
unfortunately, as i am so often doing, i continued 'tweeking'said recipe until the cookie that i so loved had changed into a very average bite indeed. it has taken me a while to get it back to its early and awsome glory, but i do believe i have finally done it! these darling treats are moist, chewy (or crunchy) and packed full of flavor. 
for an extra ginger kick i sometimes up the 2 tablespoons of ground ginger to 3, but i would recommend that you try the original first before doing this, as it may be a little too much ginger for you. 
i hope you like them as much as i do.

GINGER COOKIES

100g butter, melted
1 cups soft brown sugar
1 1/2 Tblsp molasses

1 tsp baking soda
1 Tblsp boiling water

75 g crystallized ginger, roughly chopped
2 Tblsp ground ginger
1 cup plain flour

preheat oven to 180'C

beat together butter, sugar and molasses until well combined.
dissolve baking soda in the boiling water and add to the butter mixture and beat.
add crystallized ginger and mix.
sift in the flour and powdered ginger, mixing until well combined. this may be easy, or, if the butter is beginning to harden you may have to work a little harder. sometimes the mixture looks very dry, but just keep mixing and it will absorb the flour and take on the usual cookie dough texture.

form into balls and flatten slightly once on the greased or paper lined tray.
bake these treats for 10-18 minutes.
if you want a more chewy cookie (which is my personal favourite for this recipe) you will want bake them for about 10-13 minutes. take them out of the oven just a fraction before they look completely done and leave them to cool on the tray before removing them. 
if you want a crunchy cookie, leave them in until they are just ever so slightly beginning to brown up around the edges then remove to a wire rack to cool.


happy indulging!

xx
jes