Christmas Treats Part II: Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

I just adore Christmas. Year after year, it’s the one thing i look forward to- well, it and Christmas mass at midnight. Quite nothing resonates the Christmas spirit like a congregation of easily a thousand belting out Christmas songs at the midnight Christmas mass with such gusto you would think we were on the center stage for a Christmas play.

But Christmas means a little something more to me personally- it’s the one time in a year everyone i hold dear is in Singapore at the same time; a really rare occurence. Surrounded with my family and loved ones (with my baby sister being sorely missed this year- enjoy yourself in Paris kiddo xxoo), that’s good enough a Christmas as it gets for me.

So with that, in the spirit of spreading the Christmas cheer, here’s my gift to you- the chewiest, most delicious chocolate gingerbread cookies that had me swooning with every bite.

With a gentle warmth from the wonderful mix of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and generous bits of melted dark chocolate, these cookies are a welcome change from the usual gingerbread cookies, one i’ll be more than happy to be scoffing down with some peppermint tea. If these delicious cookies really aren’t enough, your entire house will smell like Christmas with the aroma of these little crinkled babies wafting as they bake.

Merry christmas and have a happy holiday, everyone! May this festive season bring you peace, joy and lots of love!

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies [From Martha Stewart's Cookies]

Ingredients
1 ½ cup + 1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 ¼ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
115g unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup unsulfured molasses
1 tsp baking soda, dissolved in 1 ½ tsp boiling water
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and the ground spices in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Beat the butter and grated ginger together till lightened, about 4 minutes. Add the brown sugar and mix till well combined. Add the molasses and mix well.
3. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the baking soda mixture. Mix in the chocolate.
4. Transfer the dough to a piece of cling wrap. Pat the dough out to about 1 inch thick, wrap it up and refrigerate till firm, about 2 hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 165C. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Roll the dough into 1 ½ inch balls, placing them 2 inches apart on the preparing baking sheets. Refrigerate them for 20 minutes before baking for 10-12 minutes or till the surfaces crack slightly. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 5 minutes before cooling completely on a wire rack.