The Ultimate Ginger Cookie

I've always enjoyed baking. For me, it's a quick sense of accomplishment that ends with a sparkling clean kitchen AND a yummy dessert. What's not to love?! Now, cooking on the other hand...not so much.

This weekend it was a throwback favorite of mine--Ina Garten's Ultimate Ginger Cookie. I found this recipe on www.foodnetwork.com one Christmas when I was inspired to try something new. Ginger molasses cookies have always been a favorite of mine and these are AH-mazing! They are made using chunks of chopped, sugared ginger that only makes them more soft and chewy. I can't resist! Follow this recipe to a tee and you can enjoy them too! 

A few other tips:

Definitely flour your hands when you go to start making the dough balls unless you're using a dough baller. I use stone pans from pampered chef and bake these for 13-15 minutes since the stone doesn't conduct heat as quickly as a tin pan. I also leave out overnight covered with tea towels to cool fully. I once made the mistake of packing cookies into a tin when I thought they were cool enough and they became moldy within 3 days! Tragic. Lastly, to keep the cookies soft as long as possible, you can try this New England trick my mother-in-law taught me. Place a slice of bread in the tupperware or container with the cookies. The cookies will actually soak moisture from the bread, leaving it hard as a rock after a few days. If the cookies start to become hard, simply swap the bread out for a new slice. 

Since I follow a macronutrient meal plan, I actually did go through the process of inputting this recipe in My Fitness Pal to figure out the macros since I make it so often. Using a half a cup of granulated sugar to roll the dough in, the result is 204 calories per cookie at 2 p / 40.8 c / 3.6 f. Now that I'm willing to fit into my macros;)!