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Ginger Creams with Brown Butter Icing

A modern version of a classic recipe for Ginger Cream Cookies.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 2 dozen medium or 4 dozen mini cookies
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1/3 cup butter*
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup molasses, use light molasses if you can find it
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
for the browned butter icing
  • 5 tablespoon soft butter
  • 3 cups of powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoon cream or milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Method
 

  1. Mix the first 5 ingredients together thoroughly. Stir all of the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and gradually blend them into the egg mixture. Chill dough. Heat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. Drop dough by tablespoonful (for medium cookies) or teaspoonful (for mini cookies) about 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cookies will spread slightly during baking. Bake about 7-10 minutes (depending on size of cookie) or until almost no imprint remains when touches lightly. While slightly warm frost with browned butter icing.
  2. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
for the icing
  1. To brown the butter, heat it up in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbly and frothy (about 5 minutes but watch carefully and stir as needed). Then blend the browned butter with the powdered sugar. Stir in milk and vanilla until smooth. I like to spoon the icing into a little plastic bag then cut off one end so I can easily pipe out the icing onto each cookie.

Notes

The classic recipe from the 20's uses shortening instead of butter. I've tried it both ways but I usually go for butter since it's a natural ingredient. The shortening does make the cookies keep their shape more and spread less while the butter creates a thinner cookie. I've used both dark molasses and light and they both work but the classic recipe calls for a light molasses.