'All-time favorite' cookie shared

Slick up the cookie jar and flip your switch to cookie-making mode, we're on a roll here and won't stop before we brighten the day with a pair of new recipes to try.

A spunky ginger cookie starts us off, thanks to Marge Martin, who tells us, "This is my all-time favorite cookie.

"I came across crystallized ginger one day at the store and thought that might give my gingersnap recipe a nice twist. So I tweaked and tuned Mom's old recipe, added the crystallized ginger and used turbinado (sometimes called turbino) sugar to roll them in. The heat of the ginger gives the cookie a nice bite and the turbinado sugar gives them a deeper flavor and makes them prettier.

"Generally, I use store-purchased crystallized ginger but sometimes, for fun, I crystallize my own ginger.''

Marge winds up with this nifty, swifty trick: "You might want to double this recipe and make the balls larger than it calls for. You will also want to slightly underbake the cookies so that they stay chewy. Enjoy!''

Now a quick note on the turbinado (turbino) sugar. From what I gather, you can usually find this sweetener on the shelves with all of the other types of sugar. It can apparently be packaged and sold under numerous names, but the most common is "sugar in the raw.''

Turbinado sugar crystals are larger than granulated and made earlier in the sugar process, so they retain some of the natural molasses flavor, and tend to boost the moisture in various baked goods, usually an added bonus for the likes of cookies and muffins.

That's that for that, so now we'll move along to yet another version of thumbprint cookies. You'll need some huckleberry jam as the filler for this particular cookie, but if you don't have some or plan to make a batch, blueberry jam ought to make a suitable stand-in.

At any rate, longtime Forum helper Marcella Henske, who describes herself as an "Arlington Antique,'' writes, "Some years ago, my niece Patricia was hosting an annual Christmas potluck lunch. She suggested that we all bring a dozen cookies.

"I was feeling adventurous at the time, pulled out my huckleberry cookbook, saw huckleberry thumbprint cookies, and my son Daniel helped me put them together.

"I knew it was a fantastic recipe when a guest came up and said, 'I should make these for Starbucks -- I could make a ton of money.'

"I think possibly I used butter instead of margarine, but if I could make these, anyone can! Enjoy!''

Gingersnaps with a twist



1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature



1 cup granulated sugar



1/4 cup molasses



1 egg



2 cups all-purpose flour



2 teaspoons baking soda



1/2 teaspoon cloves



1 teaspoon ground ginger



1 teaspoon cinnamon



1/2 teaspoon salt



1/2 cup crystallized ginger, diced



1/2 cup turbinado sugar, for coating dough balls

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, molasses and egg; using an electric mixer, beat until fluffy. Sift the flour, baking soda, cloves, ginger, cinnamon and salt together and add to the creamed mixture. Blend well, then blend in the crystallized ginger.

Shape dough into walnut-sized balls and roll in the turbinado sugar to coat. Place on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard-size cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Using the flat bottom of a glass or cup, squash the ball until it is about 1/3-inch thick. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. To maintain their moisture and chewiness, slightly underbaked is better than overbaked.

Makes 2 1/2 to 3 dozen.

Huckleberry thumbprint cookies



2 cubes (1 cup) margarine, softened



1 cup brown sugar



2 eggs, separated



2 cups flour



Ground walnuts



Huckleberry jam



In a mixing bowl, cream together margarine and sugar; add egg yolks and mix until smooth. Combine with flour and shape into 1-inch balls.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg whites with a fork; dip dough balls in egg whites and roll in the ground walnuts.

Place dough balls on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and make a thumbprint in the center of each cookie, then fill each with 1/2 teaspoon huckleberry jam.

Return to the oven and bake 10 minutes longer. Allow cookies to cool before removing from cookie sheet.

Makes about 5 dozen.

Note: Recipe calls for no salt, baking soda or baking powder.



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The next Forum will appear in Friday's comics pages.