Kim Boyce’s Gingersnap Cookies

Somehow, seasonal baked good have just as much appeal to me as seasonal produce.  Sure they tend to go hand in hand Really, who craves pumpkin pie in May?  No thanks.  Sugar cookies in August?  Pass (well probably not, but I would prefer coconut almond ice cream or frozen mango popsicles).  Blueberry pie in November?  Actually, I could never turn down blueberry pie, even when filled with questionable frozen berries.  BUT in the chilly breezy months of November there is something exceptionally satisfying about the deeply spicy sweet tang of gingersnap cookies.

My mom adores the solid kind packaged in the telltale bright orange boxes.  And while the taste is fine, their concrete texture has repelled me since childhood.  Despite the fact that I know I will not enjoy the zesty little disks, every year, I drown the cookies in milk and try my hardest to find some delight in the bitty treat.  All of the autumnal I love components are there the clove, the ginger, the cinnamon, the molasses, the butter.  This year, I set out to truly savor this seasonal goodie which has been hiding all of its potential inside garish orange cardboard.

Freshly ground wheat flour from Pete’s Produce

The recipe which became my map to glorious gingery goodness was developed by Kim Boyce in her book Good to the Grain.  She has, in no time flat, become one of my culinary/baking luminaries.  The book is broken divided into chapters each featuring a different whole grain flour.  All in all there are 74 recipes.  The base of the recipes rely on a foundation of all purpose flour for structure finding enchanting flavors and textures from the addition of less common flours.

The journey starts with the most established flour whole wheat in these gingersnap cookies then finds its way to recipes like figgy buckwheat scones, honey amaranth waffles, and quinoa crepes.  The anticipation to create and experiment with this gold mine of recipes is almost too much for me to take.

Melted butter. Turbinado sugar.  Gooey molasses.

All mixed upThe refrigerated dough.The cookies are double rolled in sugar and will be ready in 10 minutes.

Get this book.  If not from a book store or online at least go to the library and take a look first hand.  I am going to share pictures but no recipe just as encouragement.  When my copy arrives in the mail you can bet that there will be endless amounts of mouthwatering baked happiness showing up here.

Eat Happily.