February 15, 2012 | Desserts
I was recently contacted to review a cookbook, Breakfast and Beyond – Comfort Food From Dawn to Dark, by April Moon. I don’t usually say yes to these requests, but perhaps having just worked on my own cookbook, I felt a connection to the author. Perhaps I’m hoping people out there will be so kind as to review my book when it comes out. So I said yes, and I am really happy that I did.
Breakfast and Beyond is just what the title advertises: a collection of recipes to take you from breakfast through dessert. As I leafed through the book I was immediately struck by how perfect a book this would be for a new college graduate or newlyweds. The book boasts a wide selection of dishes, categorized by eggs, sweet starts, specialties of the house (April has a restaurant called the Sunny Point Cafe), savory sides, soups, baked delicacies (both breads and sweets), stocks, sauces, and sweet accompaniments. Frankly, you could cook just from this book for a year and not be bored.
I’m not sure why I chose the Ginger Snaps to test from the book (perhaps a little inspiration from my sailing trip and the spices of Grenada?), but I’m glad I did. You need to refrigerate the dough before rolling it into balls and rolling them into sugar – otherwise they’ll spread too much.
I know you know the drill by now – use a silpat liner and you’ll have no sticking and no waste from foil or parchment paper. Your pans will last longer too.
After just 8 minutes you’ll have these gorgeous cookies to eat – cracked on the surface, crispy on edges, and tender in the middle, just like the cookbook promises. Give them a try, you won’t be disappointed. And you can get April’s book here. I think you’ll really like it.
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ cup vegetable shortening (I used butter flavored)
- ¼ cup light molasses (I used dark and it worked great)
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2-4 teaspoons water, as needed (not in April’s recipe, but in our dry Colorado climate my cookie dough needed a tiny bit more moisture to hold together)
- ½ cup sugar for rolling cookies before baking
- Cream together sugar and shortening in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add molasses and egg, scraping the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
- Sift together the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, and add to sugar mixture. Mix until combined, adding a tiny bit of water if your dough doesn’t hold together. Chill dough for 2-3 hours.
- Roll dough into 1.5 – 2 inch balls and roll them in sugar before placing on a silicone mat lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for a minute or two before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
