I have been a member of The Secret Recipe Club for a little over 3 years, and never get tired of it! Getting assigned a food blog every month to cook from is so much fun, because it exposes you to different styles of cooking and of course opens the horizons to new sites that could otherwise go unnoticed. Every year, the club takes a break for the holidays, so groups C and D do not post in December. However, instead of taking a break this year, Sarah, the club’s Owner – and Resident Saint who keeps our boats sailing smoothly – came up with a different twist: both groups would be joined in a single event, a Cookie Carnival Swap. Participation would not be mandatory, so that those who prefer to sit back and relax could do so. Me? Sitting out? No way. So, this month we have a huge event with 60 food bloggers! As usual, we were assigned a blog in secret, and had to pick a cookie recipe to make and blog about. My assigned blog, Culinary Adventures with Camilla, was a ton of fun to stalk! One of the things I loved about her site is that she designs all her recipes. Nothing from cookbooks or cooking shows. That is beyond impressive. Camilla describes herself as a “tree-hugging, veggie-crunching, jewelry-designing mean mommy who loves to cook but hates to clean”. She is also a freelance writer and photographer for Edible Monterey Bay. Is that cool or what?
I had a tough time deciding between three cookies: Faux-reos, Salted Mayan Chocolate, and Spiced Honey-Ginger Cookies. You must stop by and read about her Oreo Cookie experience, she was sort of challenged to make them from scratch, and admitted she had never even tried a Oreo until then. Talk about a challenge! Still, my love for spices made me choose the last one. Plus, since the recipe called for ginger syrup, it gave me the opportunity of making it myself, something I’ve been meaning to try for years.
SPICED HONEY-GINGER COOKIES
(slightly modified from Culinary Adventures with Camilla)
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 C butter, at room temperature
1 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup ginger syrup (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons honey (I used acacia honey)
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GINGER SYRUP
(adapted from many sources)
4 ounces fresh ginger, unpeeled
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
pinch salt
Cut the ginger into small pieces. Place the ginger pieces with water, sugar, and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce to a low simmer, and cook for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Let cool, then strain the syrup through. Store the strained syrup in the refrigerator, covered. It should keep for a couple of weeks.
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to print the ginger syrup recipe, click here
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These cookies were absolutely delicious, and perfect for this time of the year. If you like gingersnaps, they will please you because they are similar, but the cardamon takes them in a slightly different direction. On a side note, every time I open the bottle of cardamon I get mesmerized by its intense, delicious smell. Truly addictive for me. I reduced the amount of ginger powder called for in the recipe because my syrup seemed very powerful. Do not be alarmed by the amount of sugar in the recipe: one cup of sugar plus the syrup, and honey. The cookies end up with a perfect balance of spice and sweetness.
I took the full batch (about 35 cookies) to our department, and once again they were a huge hit. They seem pretty humble and harmless, but once you grab the first one it is impossible not to go back for more.
The ginger syrup was a fun culinary project that made our home smell terrific on a gray Saturday afternoon. You will have more than you need for the cookies, so consider making homemade ginger ale: just add a little syrup to a glass with some ice cubes, squirt a little lime juice, and fill the glass with carbonated water or club soda. If the temperature outside was not so polar-bear-friendly, I would have a glass right now.
Camilla, you have a great food blog, and I’ll be visiting you often from now on. I hope you also had a blast with your assignment… As a note to my readers, at this time of the year cookies are in everyone’s mind, so click on the blue frog for a serious collection of goodies made by my fellow virtual friends from The Secret Recipe Club.
Sarah, thanks for organizing this event, saving me from a horrible SRC withdrawn episode!
ONE YEAR AGO: A Simple Taco to Remember
TWO YEARS AGO: Celebrate Wednesday with Homemade Calzones
THREE YEARS AGO: Plum-Glazed Duck Breasts
FOUR YEARS AGO: Holiday Double-Decker
FIVE YEARS AGO: New York Deli Rye
I’m making cookies right now but I don’t think they’ll be this good. Maybe. 🙂 I think the Secret Recipe Club must be so much fun. Maybe one day I’ll get in.
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Loved your cookie! So many cookies, so little time!
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Yum! I can only imagine how good they smelled while baking~ Happy Holidays~ Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines
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Pretty intensely gingery…
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LOVE the honey twist to a ginger cookie.
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Honey worked very well here…
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There are so many great ingredients in these cookies and I bet the kitchen does smell wonderful when they’re baking. I wonder how strong the ginger syrup would be if you grated the ginger that you simmered instead of just cutting it into very small pieces? I love ginger. 🙂
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I think it would be even more intense – I liked cutting them in pieces because it made straining it very easy. If grating I guess you would have to use a very fine mesh type of strainer. Let me know if you try it…
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I realize was a dumb question to which there was an obvious answer … I was really wondering if it was possible for the syrup to be TOO strong/gingery. I’ve made mango-ginger ice some time ago and wished that the result had been MORE gingery (1 only used 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger). Perhaps if I had made an infused syrup and added the rest of the ingredients, the results would have been zippier. 🙂
http://a-boleyn.livejournal.com/100173.html
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PS: I wish it was possible to edit these things as I inadvertently hit the send button before proof reading a last time. I made ice CREAM not an ice etc.
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Awwww…thank you for making these! I’m glad you enjoyed them.
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Thank you for your comments…and for reminding me of these cookies!! This was a fun event.
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Great to see you here! Thanks again for a wonderful recipe!
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What a fun holiday twist for the Secret Recipe Club! I adore the sound of these cookies. Gingery but not gingerbread, which is how I like them.
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Exactly, a totally different direction – gingerbread is nice, but way too common this time of the year…
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These sound really, really good! I can’t believe how many awesome ideas I’ve been getting today! These are a keeper for sure!
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Amazing collection of cookies, I think we should do it again next year…. (poor Sarah!)
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These sound fantastic, a bit of spice in the sweet is always good.
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Completely agree with you! I am crazy for spices…. they cut the sweetness nicely
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These sound so good and would go perfectly with a cup of hot tea. Happy Holidays!
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Happy Holidays for you too!
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These sound awesome! Ginger syrup is so delicious… I always buy a premade one made by Ginger People, but I would love to try making my own!!
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It’s a nice quick project, less than one hour and you are done!
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These sound really tasty – a perfect flavour combination. I couldn’t sit out of the Cookie Carnival either – it’s just too much fun!
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You and me both! Sitting out would have killed me. Killed me! 😉
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These look absolutely delicious. Love the addition of the ginger syrup. Perfect for the holidays.
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Hubby already asked me to make them again…. since I do have some syrup left…
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That ginger syrup sounds very interesting – but then I am biased towards all things ginger 🙂 Your cookies look really good.
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I also love ginger, in savory and sweets…. unique flavor, nothing quite like it
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I want/need to try that ginger syrup, sounds sooooo good!
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I can imagine you would come up with very creative uses for it… do try it, and blog about it!
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These look incredible!
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They were delicious!
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Yay! Our cookies were really similar – mine were ginger molasses cookies. The addition of the ginger syrup must give them such a wonderful gingery flavor. And they look so soft!!
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You can bake them longer if you like them crunchy, I definitely have a soft spot for a soft cookie…. 😉
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Wow your cookies look so perfectly round. Nice work and gorgeous blog!
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Thank you so much, Leigh!
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Isn’t Camilla amazing and you did a great job with those cookies. My mouth is watering.
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She is amazing indeed! Developing each recipe herself… wow! Still cannot quite get over that
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spiced honey? I have never heard of such a thing. It looks and sounds delicious. Its like a gingersnap and honey cookie rolled into one
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Exactly! And what’s not to like, right?
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Sarah is a saint, isn’t she? Don’t you love taking baked goods to work? I lurk to see how quickly they disappear. =) Your cookies sound amazing Sally.
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I really love taking cookies or brownies, cakes to the department – share the love! 😉
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I find any recipe with spices simply irresistible! I am fascinated by the different flavor combinations and at the end of the day, the smell alone is worth it 🙂
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Me too, Sawsan – give me spices any day, cardamon is my current favorite…
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I want to make ginger syrup now! That sounds so good, and the spices in these cookies sound great too. I could live on cookies at this time of year!
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Cookies are nice, I confess to preferring a savory cracker, but still – a little cookie every once in a while is not a bad thing!
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I too love the smell of cardamon; if I ever find a cardamon scented candle I will purchase it immediately. I think my coworkers will love these; I’ve been treating them weekly to holiday cookies!
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That’s a nice thought, a cardamon-scented candle!
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I love that these are whole wheat.
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And you cannot tell by the taste, very mellow and tasty – not the kind of harshness most people associate with whole wheat baked goodies
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When I saw that there was ginger syrup in the recipe I was intrigued. But it was the whole wheat flour that really pulled me in. I have 4# of whole wheat flour that was from locally grown wheat and ground on the farm. It needed a special recipe!
I baked the cookies an hour ago and the house smells fantastic…even better is that the cookies are great!
If I make them again, I will mince a bit of the ginger that was cooked for the syrup and add that to the dough.
I now need to find uses for the remaining syrup and the ginger.
Suggestions?
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Awesome! Thanks for the feedback! I am in the same boat you are…. in this thread (comments) there are quite a few ideas to use the ginger syrup… hope it helps you out
http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2010/12/ginger-syrup—what-to-do-with-it.html
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I am in awe of talented cooks like Camilla — and you, for that matter. You both can develop your own recipes, a skill I so lack. Being able to make a dish of pasta is nothing compared to creating a baked good or loaf of bread. Look at these cookies, for example. She created the recipe? Incredible!
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Oh, but I rarely design my own recipes – a bread once in a while, a little sauce here and there – but for the most part, I’d say 90% of my recipes in the blog are not mine… borrowed. that is, borrowed recipes
😉
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Sally:
What a coincidence! I have just baked several pães de mel. Although translated literally as honey bread, it is actually a gingerbread mini muffin shaped like a cookie.
These cookies look terrific. I know my Santa would be quite happy to gobble them all up. 🙂 Happy Holiday for you, Phil, and your family!
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