Do you love ginger snaps or lemon cookies? Unlike real ginger snaps, these cookies do not have that extra spicy kick, unless you use powdered ginger in the recipe — an alteration I do not recommend. These are great as-is or better with a few macadamia nuts, almonds, or pine nuts tossed in. For a real crowd pleaser, try omitting the egg or using an egg substitute (recipe) and then forming the raw dough into balls. Then, dust them generously with powdered sugar, cocoa, carob, or crushed cereal.
Ingredients
- 1-cup flour or gluten free flour substitute
- 2-teaspoons fresh grated ginger and its juice
- 3 eggs with yolk and white separated into separate bowls
- 1-teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-cup sugar
- 1-stick butter softened (1/2 cup raw coconut butter for the raw version)
- 1-teaspoon baking powder (The gluten-free kind.)
- 1-key lime separated into juice and zest
- 1-teaspoon sea salt
Directions
- Mix softened butter, egg yolk, vanilla extract, sugar, and ginger until a creamy consistency and no sugar grit is left.
- In a second bowl, mix baking powder, salt and flour together in a second bowl until well incorporated.
- In a third bowl, whip egg whites until frothy and before they turn stiff.
- Gently stir in flour mixture into egg whites.
- Slowly mix lime juice and zest into butter mixture.
- Gently mix butter and flour mixtures together. Be careful not to over mix or the cookies will turn out tough.
- Roll this mixture into a log shape approximately 1-inch across and wrap it in cellophane. Alternatively, use a rolling pin; roll the cookie dough between two pieces of cellophane into a sheet ½-inch thick. Then, roll the sheet around the rolling pin.
- Chill this mixture in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or until hard.
- Remove the cellophane. Then, use a sharp knife to cut off sugar cookie log into ½-inch thick cookies. Alternatively, unroll the cookie dough from the rolling pin, remove the cellophane from the topside, and cut with cookie cutters.
- Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 5 minutes or until they begin to look toasted but are still soft. Cool and serve. They go best with homemade hot chocolate or hot tea. Try putting a bit of raspberry in black tea (a Russian favorite) for a delicious contrast to the lime-ginger goodness of the cookies.
