Chocolate Dipped Gingersnaps

This small batch recipe is easy to make and comes together quickly. Dipping the cookies in a little bit of white and dark chocolate adds some extra flare and really compliments the spices in the dough. They are exactly what you want with your afternoon cup of tea or coffee.

Don't be intimidated by the extra step of dipping the cookies in chocolate! The process isn't difficult and everyone will be impressed with how sophisticated your cookies look.

Makes 27 cookies

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 1/4 cups (290 grams) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1/3 cup turbinado sugar, for rolling

3 oz. white chocolate chips

3 oz. dark chocolate chips

2 teaspoons vegetable shortening

Helpful Extras: parchment paper or wax paper, two small sandwich baggies, kitchen scale, tablespoon cookie scoop

Gather all ingredients. Cream together the butter and the sugar in a large bowl until combined. Add in the molasses and the egg. Mix well, then set the bowl aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and all the spices until no streaks remain. Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl with the wet ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.

If the dough is very soft, refrigerate it for about 30 minutes to allow the dough to firm up. When ready to bake, put the turbinado sugar in a small bowl and roll tablespoon sized balls of dough in the sugar. Place the balls of cookie dough on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart from each other. You will have enough cookie dough to make 27 cookies.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes. For a chewy cookie, aim for closer to 8-9 minutes and 11-12 minutes for a crunchier cookie. For a really snappy cookie, you can bake the cookies for a minute longer, but be careful not to burn them!

Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then move to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

In a small sauce pan, combine the 3 oz. white chocolate with 1 teaspoon vegetable shortening. Melt gently on low heat until no chunks remain. Transfer the melted chocolate to a small bowl and immediately begin dipping cookies about 1/3 of the way into the chocolate. Set the dipped cookie on parchment paper or wax paper to cool and set.

After you have dipped half of the cookies in the white chocolate, put any remaining white chocolate in a small plastic baggie and set aside.

Repeat the above process with the dark chocolate.

You can also melt the chocolate in the microwave if you prefer. Microwave on low for 20 seconds and stir. Continue microwaving the chocolate in 20 second intervals until no chunks remain. Dip the cookies in the chocolate as explained above.

After you have dipped all the cookies in the white and dark chocolate, use the remaining chocolate in the sandwich baggies to add a drizzle across each cookie.

Carefully snip a tiny piece off the corner of the sandwich baggie. Drizzle 2-3 stripes at an angle across each cookie. Use the white chocolate drizzle on the dark chocolate dipped cookie and the dark chocolate drizzle on the white chocolate dipped cookies.

Allow cookies to set at room temperature until the chocolate has set.