Halloween is here and candy eating is in full swing! So of course being me, I wanted a fall treat with a little less guilt to balance things out! Decorated sugar cookies are always a crowd favorite, especially amongst the kiddos. This year I revamped my traditional cream cheese sugar cookies to incorporate fall flavors, whole wheat flour and a little less sugar. Thus, the Ginger Sugar Cookie was born!
These cookies are a mix between a soft ginger cookie and a sugar cookie making them perfect for cutting out shapes! Not too sweet and full of fall spice, it’s the perfect cookie for your Halloween dessert table! The whole wheat flour is a pleasant surprise, the nutty flavor is a nice combo with ginger and molasses. I love to use monk fruit sweetener or coconut sugar in place of granulated sugar to keep things naturally sweetened. For this recipe I did half monk fruit sweetener and half coconut sugar.
How To:
You want your batter to be well homogenized, a broken batter makes a sad cookie. To avoid this, start off by bringing all ingredients to room temperature. Also, scrape your bowl in between each ingredient addition, this will keep a well mixed batter with no ingredients left in the bottom of the bowl.
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and cream cheese on medium speed for about 30 seconds. With mixer on low, gradually add sugar and beat for about 1 minute until light and fluffy. With mixer on stir, add eggs one at a time until just combined. Next with the speed on low, add the vanilla and molasses to the butter.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, spices, salt and baking powder. With mixer on stir, gradually add the flour mixture, until just combined. Do not over mix, especially when working with whole wheat flour, this will activate the gluten and cause a bread like texture for your cookies. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead by hand if there is still some loose flour. Store your dough in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic and flattened to about a 1.5-2” thickness. Dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week and the freezer up to 6 months.
I always recommend making your cookie dough 12-24 hours before baking. This is going to give your batter the ultimate flavor! Why? Fat is the flavor absorber so you want your fat and flavor to marry for as long as possible!
I like a cookie that holds its shape! To achieve this I roll out my dough when it’s the perfect temp, not too cold and not to warm, about 50-60°F. If you go too cold you’ll get cracks in the dough. Roll dough out to about 1/4” thickness and cut your shapes. Once shapes are cut and a sheet pan is filled pop cookies into the fridge for at least 5-7 minutes. This will ensure your cookies don’t turn into melting snowmen in the oven!
With your oven at 375°F bake cookies on a sheet pan with parchment paper for 10-12 minutes. Halfway through baking, flip your cookie sheet 360° and switch baking racks. This will help your cookies get an even sun tan! Cookies are done when bottoms are just golden around the edges. Transfer cookies from baking sheet to cooling rack immediately to stop baking. Once cooled, it’s time to frost!
Decorating:
Have fun with decorating and include the kids. I went simple with a multi colored pumpkin patch theme but the options are endless! I love to use royal icing for decorating, feel free to use your favorite frosting recipe. The typical recipe calls for light corn syrup but I changed that up. I swapped it out for maple syrup, it’s a natural sweetener and goes great with the other flavors here. Royal icing dries quickly so be sure to cover it with plastic wrap in between uses. You can also make the icing a day or two ahead of time. Just re-whip it with a whisk or hand beater, otherwise it will be too wet.
These Ginger Sugar Cookies are perfect for your Halloween Dessert table! Made with whole wheat flour and natural sweetness, they're a great balance to all the sweet fall treats!
Ingredients
For the cookies:
-
- 2 sticks unsalted Butter
- 1, 8 oz brick cream cheese
- ¾ cup Monk fruit sweetener (I use Lakanto)
- ¾ cup organic coconut sugar
- 1 tsp, vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp, molasses (unsulphured, Non-GMO)
- 1 large egg
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ tsp cinnamon
- 1 ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground clove
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
For the Icing
- 1/2 cup of warm water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2.5 tablespoons meringue powder (I like Wilton)
- 2.5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon organic maple syrup
Instructions
For the cookies
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and cream cheese on medium speed for about 30 seconds. With mixer on low, gradually add sugar and beat for about 1 minute until light and fluffy.
- With mixer on stir, add eggs one at a time until just combined. Add vanilla and molasses.
- In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, salt and spices, lightly mix by hand. With mixer still on stir, gradually add the flour and mix until combined. Do not over mix, otherwise the gluten in the whole wheat flour will activate and cause a bread like texture for your cookies. Wrap dough in plastic and flatten to about 1.5-2” thickness. Store in refrigerator for at least 12 hours.
- When ready to bake set oven to 375°F. Let dough come to about 50-60°F, then roll out to about 1/4” thickness. Cut desired shapes, place on cookie sheet with parchment paper and chill for 5-7 minutes.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Halfway through baking, flip your cookie sheet 360° and switch baking racks. Cookies are done when bottoms are just golden around the edges. Transfer cookies from baking sheet to cooling rack immediately to stop baking.
- Once cooled, decorate with your favorite icing!
For the Icing:
- In a stand in mixer bowl whisk the water, vanilla and meringue powder by hand. Then using a paddle attachment gradually add the powdered sugar with the speed on low until combined.
- Now add the maple syrup and beat on high for about 3 minutes. Add desired food coloring and mix. Depending on your decorating plans you might need to adjust. If you want to flood gradually add water, if icing is too runny add more powdered sugar.
*Use immediately or store in an airtight container.
Yield: This recipe yields about 30-32 cookies rolled out to about 1/4" thickness and cut with a 3" cutter. Storage: Store cookies in an airtight container in a dry place for up to 1 week. Freeze cookies for up to 6 months, let thaw for 1 hour before eating.
