Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies: Week Two

The second week of twelve weeks of Christmas cookies is here already.  This should have been posted on Thursday but Thursdays aren't a great day for me as I put in a 12 hour shift at work so I shall be posting my contributions on Fridays or Saturdays.

I have no idea where I got the idea for this weeks cookie; I think I glanced at something chocolate and ginger and thought....hey! that would make a good combination.  Only good if you like chocolate and ginger of course. I happen to like ginger.  The flavour of it isn't too strong at all really, it just gives the cookie a spicy kind of warmth to it without being overpowering.  You will also notice that I used almond flour rather than wheat flour like I did with the last recipe.

I'm on an almond flour kick at the moment, I don't know why.  I'm using the hell out of my food processor these days and it's so easy to make.  I've decided I'm going to try and make a lot of my contributions out of almond flour.

If you're on a low carb diet, these cookies are acceptable as a treat with a fraction of the carbs in a normal cookie.  If you're on a low fat diet, however, you had better stay clear.  With the butter, fat from the almonds and coconut, they're pretty much half their weight in fat per cookie. If you don't give a stuff, go right ahead and make them! Haha!

Chocolate Ginger Cookies

125g butter

2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup fine coconut

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup fine sugar

70g crystallised ginger

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 180 degrees Celcius.  Melt butter in a saucepan and add cocoa.  Mix with a spoon till it is gently bubbling.  Add vanilla extract.  Set aside.

In a bowl, add almond flour, coconut, baking powder, ground ginger and sugar.  Mix well with a spoon.  Pour melted chocolate butter over mixture and mix well.  Finally, fold in crystallised ginger.

Line a baking sheet with baking paper.  Form tablespoon-sized balls with your hands and flatten slightly on the baking sheet.  Place in the oven for about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Makes about 20.

Check out the other goodies:

Ginger Kiss Cupcakes

My house smelled like Christmas tonight!  I've been baking on Fridays for the past couple of weeks and made something I thought I would share since it smells and tastes divine.....

The texture and taste is very much like the Ginger Kisses you can buy in the supermarket here, so that is what I have named them after.

For those of you that don't know what Ginger Kisses are, it is a baked goody sold in New Zealand and Australia, kinda like a whoopie pie.  The filling is more like a vanilla cream rather than the spiced frosting I made.

Ginger Kiss Cupcakes

125g butter

1 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup molasses
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp ginger

Cream butter and sugar, mix in eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder and milk and mix well with a spoon. Add molasses and spices and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Spoon into cupcake cases and bake in an oven set at 160 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool before frosting.

Spiced Buttercream Frosting

adapted from Oh She Glows

1/2 cup butter

1 cup icing sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves
1 tsp vanilla extract

milk/water as needed

With an electric mixer, cream butter and add sifted icing sugar 1/4 cup at a time.  Use milk/water to get desired consistency (approximately 1Tbsp needed).  Add spices & vanilla and beat with mixer until the frosting is light and fluffy.

linked to:

Ginger Tea

I bought a new cookbook the other day: 4 Ingredients; Fast, Fresh & Healthy 

I have the other two books written by the same ladies.  As the title says, all recipes in the book have 4 ingredients or less.  They have a gluten free recipe book which I haven't bought.

Out of the three books of I have of theirs, this is by far the best.  It has some really tasty ideas; not only that, they are all pretty healthy and use simple ingredients.

I'm going to share with you a recipe from the book.  It has been changed very slightly to suit my taste.  It has a very spicy taste so if you love ginger this one is for you!  It actually tastes like a non-carbonated ginger beer to me....

"Ginger helps to stimulate the heart and circulatory system and is also known for it's ability to reduce inflammation" [good for people who train a lot!].
"Good for indigestion and gas" [ahem!].
"Tea brewed from ginger is a folk remedy for colds"

10cm ginger root
4 cups of water
1 tsp honey
2 slices of lemon

Peel ginger and slice thinly.  Bring water to boil and then add ginger.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Strain tea and then add honey and lemon.  Bring to boil.  Pour into teapot and serve.