Iced-Lemon Ginger Cookies

Photo: Eliza Adam

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and still warm (1 stick)

1/4 cup dark molasses (mild or robust)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons peeled and finely minced or grated fresh ginger

1 egg

2/3 cup diced (¼- inch) cr ystallized ginger

3/4 cup cup Demerara or turbinado sugar or ¼ granulated sugar, for rolling

Lemon icing

50 Enough to ice about cookies

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth. Drizzle the icing on cool

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt and mix thoroughly with a whisk.

In a large bowl, combine the warm butter, molasses, granulated sugar, brown sugar, fresh ginger, and egg and mix thoroughly. Add the flour mixture and crystallized ginger and stir until incorporated. The dough will be soft.

Form the dough into 1-inch balls. (Refrigerate unrolled dough between batches.) Roll the balls in the Demerara or turbinado sugar and place them 2 inches apart on lined or ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies puff up and crack on the surface and then began to deflate in the oven. Rotate the sheets from top to bottom and from back to front halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. For chewier cookies, remove them from the oven when at least half or more of the cookies have begun to deflate; for crunchier edges with chewy centers, bake for a minute or so longer.

For lined pans, set the pans or just the liners on racks to cool; for unlined pans, use a metal spatula to transfer the cookies to racks. Cool the cookies completely before storing. May be kept in an airtight container for several days.