Mary Ann or Ginger?

When cooking at the holiday you can’t go wrong with ginger? Here are two recipes sure to be a hit at your kitchen table. A monthly cooking tradition with a friend, M, has become a great opportunity to learn new cooking tricks and tackle the art of baking. 

The Fresh Ginger Muffins, came from the Food Network, but M added 2 additional ounces of peeled ginger and 1 cup of fresh cranberries. These muffins are incredibly light and fluffy. 

Fresh Ginger Muffins *Marion Cuningham

• A 4-ounce piece peeled ginger root
• 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest with some pith
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup fresh cranberries, halved
• 1/4 cup Sugar in the Raw

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Grease 16 muffin pans.

In a food processor, process the ginger until it is in tiny pieces. Or, hand chop it into fine pieces. You should have about 1/3 cup.

In a small skillet over medium high heat, add chopped ginger and 1/3 cup of the sugar. Cook until the sugar has been absorbed, continue stirring to avoid burning. Remove from the heat and let cool once all the sugar is melted.

Put 2 tablespoons of lemon zest and 3 tablespoons sugar in the food processor or chop together by hand. Add the zest and sugar mix to the ginger mixture and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, then add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the buttermilk and mix until blended. Add the flour, salt and baking soda and mix until smooth. Add the lemon-ginger mixture and halved cranberries mix well.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups so that each cup is about 3/4 full. Sprinkle each muffin top with Sugar in the Raw.  Bake 15-20 minutes.

Gingersnaps

Being a sap for sweets, it is nice to not feel guilty about have 2x the daily allotment of cookies if you know they were made with love and a little less the sugar.

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp allspice
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp of fresh ground pepper
• 1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter-room temp
• ½ cup Splenda
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup dark molasses
• ¼ cup granulated sugar for rolling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.

Sift together first 8 dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside. In a large bowl beat butter and both sugars until fluffy. Beat in the egg and then the molasses. Then slowly add the dry ingredient mixture until fully combined.

Grease two baking sheets. Put ¼ cup of granulated sugar in a bowl. Using a spoon grab about enough dough to make a 1” ball. Roll the dough in your hands to make a ball and then roll the ball in the sugar to cover it completely. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheets. The cookies will flatten so space them out.

Bake for 9 - 11 minutes. Let cool on the sheet for 1 - 2 minutes and then transfer to the cooling racks. These cookies will store for 5 days.