If you're on team soft ginger molasses cookies like me (as opposed to hard), you're probably particular and like a certain type of "softness". There's ultra moist (sounds dirty) - which is a cookie that's not completely cooked all the way through, there's light and fluffy that melts in your mouth, and then there's chewy-dense.
The problem when you're looking for the perfect soft cookie recipe is the recipe doesn't usually mention what kind of "softness" the cookies will turn out to be. Thus, sending indecisive Types A's like myself into a whirlwind. Enter me, a very considerate person. Let me tell you, if you're looking for for a chewy-dense ginger molasses cookie, this Food Network recipe is fool proof - Click here.
One important thing you should note when baking these cookies is you have to roll the raw cookie dough into a 1-inch ball and coat it in granulated sugar first. When sugar is directly exposed to heat (the baking sheet), it caramelizes and the bottom of the cookies burn very easily. I found that doubling (maybe even tripling) the parchment paper lining helped, and I didn't put the cookies in for the full 12 minutes. I found that 10-11 minutes was enough.
Another thing I've learned to do, and what's taught me patience, is to put one cookie sheet in the oven at a time. If there are more than one sheet on different levels there will be an inconsistency. So take your time, put one cookie sheet in the oven, turn on a Hallmark channel movie, and by the time the strong female lead meets the guy that's going to show her the true meaning of Christmas, you can take the cookies out and put in the next batch.
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