This is my new favorite cookie. Yet another gem from Martha Stewart, called "Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies", they have all of the flavors of the season mixed into a wonderfully chewy/crunchy cookie. (Thank you to my friend Joanna for sending me the recipe). The recipe is not difficult, but it does involve a few steps which require time in between, so it's something best made the night before you need them - plus, they get better after one day in an airtight container.
The dough gets patted into a round and refrigerated for a few hours, and then rolled into balls and refrigerated again, before rolling the balls in sugar and baking. Again, easy enough method, just allow for ample time.
They are soooo good and look great, with a lovely cracking at the top. I was out of baking chocolate, so I just used semi-sweet chocolate chips, which worked fine. Perfect for gifting.
I had a bunch of walnuts, so I also made the Walnut Cream Cheese Cookies from my Martha Stewart Cookies book.
These are also very pretty and the recipe makes a ton, which is convenient because you can keep the logs of dough in the freezer for weeks. Then if someone pops by for coffee - you can have home baked cookies in minutes!
I had bought these inexpensive brown bags at the Container Store, which are great both for their size and the fact that they are coated on the inside to keep food from soiling the bag. What I did was stamp the bags with my red mitten rubber stamp, and wrap 3 of each cookie in parchment paper, and seal it up for gifts. You can't imagine how nice it feels to give someone homemade cookies in a festive bag, just because.
