As some of you may have already seen via my previous blogs, (and if you haven’t bothered reading them then why not!!! 
), I have decided in my 40th year of surviving on this planet Earth, to try something different in the kitchen – this being baking.
I’ve been cooking for probably 25 or so years, always having a keen interest in food and what you can do with it. I especially like “modern” cuisine and the visual elements of food, but not forgetting the ultimate part being the taste of course. When having friends over, I normally do the starter and main, with mini doing the dessert. I think I am “ok” with my cooking skills, trying out most things and generally getting them right (not managed to poison anyone yet)
So today I decided to “pop my baking cherry” and attempt my first batch of biscuits from scratch. The choice was made to go for “fat free Ginger snaps” – a recipe from David Lebovitz. Whenever mini does baking, the results are always really, really good, so I set myself a high bar to match! It’s amazing how much “effort” goes into baking, compared to other cooking. Weighing this, sifting that, adding this, then that, then the other stuff…thank God for our KitchenAid!
So, the recipe(makes about 20 or so biscuits) wasn’t too fancy, a good handful of ingredients and a fairly easy mixing stage. Here’s what went in :-
1 cup, packed (215g) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup (75g) applesauce
1/3 cup (45g) molasses (preferably mild-flavored)
2 1/4 cups (315g) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground dried ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 cup (50g) finely-chopped candied ginger
First off, in the mixer bowl beat the brown sugar, applesauce, and molasses for five minutes at medium speed, with the paddle attachment. While this is doing its magic, sift together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.
After five minutes, stop the mixer, scrape down the sides, and add the egg whites. Beat for another minute. With the mixer at its lowest speed, add the dry ingredients until completely incorporated, and mix on medium for one minute more.
Stir in the chopped candied ginger. After a while it should look something like this :-
Chill the batter very well (I left mine in the fridge for about 2 hours – be warned it is VERY sticky when it comes out!)
To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Then line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Pour some cinnamon-scented granulated sugar in a shallow baking dish.
Scoop the cookies into heaping tablespoon-sized balls (about the size of a pickled onion) and drop them down into the sugar. After doing this for the first batch, my hands got REALLY sticky. I then thought about using a cocktail stick to help move a dollop off the spoon, so it lands into the sugar. Then using the dish, just shake it so the dough gets covered, then it isn’t too bad to roll. Use your hands to form the dough into sugar-coated balls: don’t be shy with the sugar either. It not only helps to shape the sticky dough, but makes a lovely crust for the finished cookies.
Put the cookie mounds evenly-spaced on the two baking sheets, leaving room (at least 3-inches, 8cm) between them to spread.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the cookies feel just barely set in the center. My first batch I kept in the oven for about 18 minutes, and even then the bottoms were a bit soggy. I think this is more down to the size of my initial dough balls (less is more me thinks!). Remove from oven and cool.
So, it’s nice to know that I’ve baked these, but a lot of effort for about 20 biscuits 
and my end results don’t look too different from the pics on the David Lebovitz site! They tasted really nice, nice texture, the bottoms weren’t soggy after leaving them to cool. Next time will leave the cloves out.