chunky chocolate ginger snaps

December 10, 2013 By in Baked Goods, Chocolate, Cookies and Bars, holiday Tags: , , , , , 38 Comments

I’ve always had a thing for ginger.

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When we are sick, the first home remedy is fresh, peeled ginger brewed with lots of pressed lemon juice and raw honey.

fresh ginger

After salt and garlic, ginger is often my go to for giving something a little snap . I’m also not shy to grab a couple Valrhona chocolate discs and a piece of candied ginger just to nibble on in the evenings. I consider it my “diet” treat when I limit it to just a couple of each (rarely).

I always have a 3kg bag of Valrhona’s 55% Equatorial Noire Feves (discs)

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And a 3kg bag of the 70% dark Guanaja Feves. Yes, altogether that’s 13+ pounds of chocolate readily on hand.  But it’s more economical in bulk and well, we all have our priorities. You can also get it in 2.2# bags from Valrhona. Or normal people amounts too.

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One of my favorite companies to order from retail is Chocosphere in Portland, OR.

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Also in my pantry is Valrhona Cocoa Powder. You’d think I’d be getting paid for this right?  But since having lived in France in 2003 for a few years, it’s my absolute fave and I’ve never liked anything else as much. I’m paid in pleasure… cough cough. That didn’t come out right. Let’s just say I’m sharing on my own free will and testament. I used to buy it at this great little shop called G.Detou in the 2nd arrondissement. Since I can’t write my own post about Detou, I’m going to send you one in the archives of David Lebowitz. Thank you David.

Oh and I can be paid in chocolate. I’m flexible like that.

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I do eat chocolate every day. But who’s the star here? cholcolate ginger cookies-13

When I did the ginger snaps for the cranberry cheesecake, I knew they would need a revisit when I started eating a separate piece of chocolate with each bite of cookie.

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I wonder how these guys would add up as a chocolate gingersnap crust… hmmmmm.

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You can Print the recipe HERE: chunky chocolate ginger snaps

  • 2 cups/215g/9.5oz all purpose flour
  • ¼ cup/ 25g/ 3T cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 T powdered ginger
  • ½ tsp cardamom
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1T peeled finely granted ginger (about 2 thumbs worth)
  • 1 cup packed /200g/ 7oz brown sugar
  • ½ cup plus 2T/ 140g/ 5oz softened unsalted butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup/ 90g/ 3oz  molasses
  • 4oz candied ginger chopped
  • 6oz high quality semi sweet chocolate- preferably chopped by hand vs chips.
  • Another element in any ginger snap is the molasses. I had two on hand

Plantation Blackstrap and a Barbados Molasses which has a higher sugar content but less iron. Which led to another 45 minutes of researching molasses.I love it when I learn new things. Barbados molasses is the first pressing of cane juice, it’s not actually from Barbados (I’m willing to admit I had no clue).

I used a Barbados molasses which I think does give this cookie sweeter undertones vs using the blackstrap that’s less sweet and I want to say almost saltier for lack of a better description. But it was great to try both side by side.

Unsulphered Blackstrap is from the 3rd pressing of older canes (sulpher is added to young pressed canes as a preservative) And what about the 2nd I ask? Dark molasses. Here’s a couple links for more info if you are interested. Wholesugars.ca and even more at Cooksinfo.com.

cholcolate ginger cookies

 I also like to do mini cookies for presents.

cholcolate ginger cookies-12Want to kick it up yet another level.

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Try smashing a little cinnamon ice-cream between two cookies. Either eat straight away or freeze it. Our favorite right now is from Lopez Creamery.

cholcolate ginger cookies-15And one more bite before you go…
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On the home front. My darling hubs, O comes home on Friday after several months in Germany. Woohoo! Can’t wait to feed him.

Now go get yourself some ginger and chocolate!

Tschüß xx

38 responses

  1. I love Valrhona chocolate but I have never tried their Cocoa Powder. I’m not sure I’ve seen it before (or maybe I didn’t pay attention…). I’ll have to try it!

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  3. Ok, seriously we are on the same wavelength. Valrhona…. ahh. You speak my language. Except for me lately it is candied mango for some reason, I think it is because the little guy likes it too. We gotta catch up….will email soon! Ps. Love your photos!

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    • Funny enough- last year I was searching all over for something like these chocolate ginger cookies… but I was always searching crinkles. I do have some mint crinkles on the blog that were pretty darn good. I think you could get a little more ‘crinkle’ out of these with a little tweaking. cheers, wendy

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  5. Good looking cookies! You’re a chocolate gourmet! ….aaachooo! I’ve lost count of sneezes. They are one after the other so I think I’ll do the ginger, lemon honey thing, Thanks for the reminder! Resa xo

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  7. I’ve always liked Ginger too. AND Marianne. But that’s a different matter.

    Ima ingredients for the cheesecake. I suck at making cookies so you’ll have to send me some.

    Oh, yeah, BTW . . . if he’s not been home in months, be REALLY careful! This is how the youngest comes about. Or so I’ve heard.

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    • You are funny. Should have wound that into the post.
      I’m much more of a Marriane myself and I live on an island.
      And my youngest is 15 and 1/2 – No change of life babies for me-thank you very much.
      have a good one- wendy

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    • Chewy- and i love them most the next day. The chunks of chocolate and candied ginger are the best. And sticking a tablespoon of cinnamon ice cream on one is decadent.
      I’m armed with dough balls in the freezer:)

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  9. I wrote Valh…just now bc I don’t have time to search every product for the ingredients but do you know if this brand or the other one offers chocolate without any refined sugar? I use unsulfured molasses, btw, too.

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    • Sorry for the delay… my pending comments went unchecked too long! Valrhona doesn’t offer anything without refined sugar except the cocoa powder. I think I’d like to have the blackstrap and the barbados molasses on hand, both unsulfured but with the option for a little sweeter. Great blog you have:) cheers, wendy

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    • Thanks Bam! The holidays have been lovely so far and we are readying for family members coming this weekend. Making more cookie dough tomorrow! These are a great cookie to have on hand. Holiday wishes to you and yours.
      cheers… wendy

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  11. What a decadent post! I love it. Your voice comes right on through and I smiled the whole way… I may have drooled a little too. And now I must go buy myself 3kg of valrhona!

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  14. it’s totally normal to keep chocolate in bulk 😉 Or at least, if you’re a food blogger it is! I love ginger in all forms, but especially candied, and I know I would adore these cookies!!! Yummy.

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    • Hi Amy- love sitting in a coffee shop and getting blog replies as they come in- it’s like having a conversation- i’m such a dork.
      I think you’d love these too.
      I do always have candied ginger on hand. I’ve made granola with it too. Really yummy (i think) –
      cheers, wendy

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  15. I have so many cookies in the house right now…I shouldn’t be looking at these cookies as they are calling my name. BTW, have you gotten a new camera or lens? Your photos have always been good but these are great.

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    • Thanks so much Karen. I haven’t gotten a new lens but do have my eye on one for 2014. Actually I wouldn’t mind trading in my Nikon and possibly moving over to a Canon- just not sure I’m quite ready to fork over the dough.
      I’m on it tomorrow with more cookies. We are looking at a couple weeks more of over-indulgence then the kale will be back in the forefront. Happy holidays:)

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      • What ever you are doing, your photos are terrific. Oh yes, reality will return at the first of the year. For now, all these goodies are part of this wonderful season.

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  17. It’s funny but as much as I dislike ginger, I love gingersnaps and adding chocolate is really marvelous. Chocolate and ginger go so beautifully together. These cookies look perfect – plump, chewy and flavorful. I’ve bookmarked this recipe! And such a festive cookie, too. Wishing you and your lovely family a joyous holiday season, dear Wendy!

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    • This cookie might definitely cause you to re-evaluate your feelings about ginger:)
      Nice to hear from you Jamie and wish you and yours a Happy New Year. Look forward to our paths crossing again someday. x wendy

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  19. I’m sure that Mr O was happy to be home and feed, and I hope he was feed on more than cookies!!! *smile
    Beautiful post, Wendy … those photos – you should become a food stylist – they make mega bucks!!!!
    So glad I don’t cake because I gain weight only looking at your beauties here. Love everything with ginger in.

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  20. Hi there,
    I know you posted this a couple of years ago, but I just made a batch of these this evening, and wanted to let you know how well they turned out! They are delicious! The triple ginger gives them a lovely after burn, and the chocolate chunks are decadent. I also wanted to let you know that unfortunately there’s a few omissions in the printer friendly version of your recipe. At the beginning of the instructions where you talk about whisking together the dry ingredients, you do not list the cocoa or cinnamon. However, you do list salt, even though it is not included in the ingredients. I didn’t realize I had left out the cocoa until I was about to add the chocolate, and I forgot the cinnamon completely. In spite of this, they’re still awesome, and I don’t even miss the cinnamon, the ginger is so good. Thanks for posting this!

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Thoughts, Comments, Questions ?