Lemon Glazed Candied Ginger Cookies

This weekend I attempted a more difficult recipe for me, which included rolling out cookie dough. For some reason I find this to sort of be a frightening task, dough sticks to surfaces and I'm never really sure how thick roll out cookies should be. Also not to mention that rolling out cookies also means that these are basically a 2 day project, because you have to let the dough chill before ever attempting to roll the cookies. So on Saturday I set out to begin the dough project, though first I had to do a little shopping. First stop whole foods, I needed some candied ginger and lemons & I also found unbleached pre-cut parchment paper! (Also I've been stearing clear of recipes calling for parchment paper, in my mind anything calling for parchment paper was a tough one). After whole foods, I went down to soho on a mission to get a zester & I went to one of my favorite cooking stores "sur la table". I love that store, seriously that store makes me want to buy castle shaped pans, and super expensive brightly colored le creuset pots and pans. The spatula section alone....I could go on and on about this store. Anyway I got my zester and picked up a cookie sheet, because I decided it was time I own 2 of these, and it would make the baking time go by quicker. After a day of shopping for supplies and gadgets I started the dough. The dough was easy enough, the only tedious part was cutting up all of the candied ginger, it is very sticky and sugary. After making the dough I seperated into the 2 flat 1" discs as the recipe calls for, and wrapped them up and stuck them in the fridge to chill for the next 24 hours.





The next evening is when the real test begins, the rolling of the dough. I read this recipe about 50 times to figure out what exactly I was supposed to do. I admit I haven't done the roll out cookies ever by myself before. Though I did finally use my Le Creuset rolling pin that Chlo gave to me for my birthday last year. woo hoo! I definetely had some mis-haps with rolling out the dough, parts stuck to the counter sometimes, but for the most part I think I did a pretty good job. The part that I kind of failed on was the actual baking part. I burnt probably at least 10 cookies! Though from my failure I learned a few things. First off, just because a recipe calls for a certain temperature, doesn't mean that is correct for you oven. Second, even though I set a timer I still need to look often at these cookies. The second batch I baked turned out perfect.



The glaze part is easy, but this recipe made about double the amount I needed and I didn't even make the full amount it called for. One cool thing I did do was buy a squeezy sauce bottle and filled it with the glaze. Using the bottle made it really easy to make pretty squiggly lines and it was really fun, I felt professional in my make believe world.



Lemon-Glazed Candied Ginger Cookies - from marthastewart.com

2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
salt
6 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped candied ginger
1 large egg
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup water

Sift flour, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 min. Add ginger and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Add flour mixture, and then beat on medium-low speed until dough just comes together.

Shape dough into two 1" thick discs. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour - up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 worked better for me). Roll out 1 disk on a lightly floured surface, cut out 2" circles - remove scraps. Place rounds 1/2" apart on parchment lined baking sheets. Refrigerate rounds 10 min before baking.

Bake rotating sheets halfway through (oops I didn't do this, maybe that is also why some burnt) until cookies are set and edges are light gold, 12 to 14 minutes. (my first batch I baked for 12 min at 350, 2nd batch 11 min at 325). Transfer parchment with cookies to wire racks. Let cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Whisk confectioners sugar, lemon zest and juice, honey, water and a pinch of salt in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the cooled cookies. Let stand until glaze is set, at least 20 minutes.