So this weekend was my weekend to make snack for church again.  I'd had some lovely gingersnaps late last week, and they whet my appetite for a nice spice cookie.  Then I remembered a cocoa infused ginger cookie recipe I'd gotten from a friend and had been meaning to try for some time now.  I looked it over and made a few changes to it, like increasing the ginger to cinnamon ratio, and adding cloves and cayenne.

It was 8:00 on Saturday night when the kids settled and I set about scooping the chilled dough, rolling it into sugar crusted balls and getting them into the oven.  Then I remembered - one of the members of our church is allergic to chilies!  Not good.  And I was out of butter that wasn't frozen solid.  And it was going on 9:00pm.

I hurriedly Googled cookies made with oil and came upon another ginger cookie.  This dough had equal parts ginger and cinnamon, and required no chilling.  Bingo.  Hubby washed up the mixing bowl and paddle while I assembled the ingredients.  Grapeseed oil stood in for light olive oil.  And again I added a touch of cloves.  But no chili this time!

So which one was the winner?  Well, I wasn't as fond of the chocolate and ginger together as I thought I'd be, so I  liked the flavour of the second ones better, but they had a bit of an oily texture.  Not unpleasantly so, but still not what I wanted.  The texture of the cocoa ones is more cakey.  So really, I'm still looking for a gingersnap recipe that I will make again.  That said, the second batch was completely devoured and no one seemed to have a complaint.

Cocoa Ginger Cookies

1 1/2 C butter
2 eggs
1 C brown sugar
1 C white sugar
1/2 C molasses
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C cocoa
3 1/2 C flour
sugar for rolling

Beat the butter until smooth.  Add the sugars, eggs and molasses and beat well.  Add the spices, baking powder, salt and cocoa until blended.  Then add the flour.

Chill the dough for 30 minutes to help with rolling.

Using a small disher or teaspoon, scoop out the dough.  Roll it into balls and dip them into sugar.  No need to flatten.

Bake on a parchment lined sheet at 350F for 10 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies that freeze nicely.

No-Butter Ginger Cookies

2/3 cup grapeseed or other neutral oil
1 cup sugar
1 egg
4 tablespoons molasses
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
 sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

 Mix together the oil, sugar, egg and molasses.  In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir them into the oil mixture.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons into dish of sugar to coat with sugar.

Place cookies on parchment lined cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.

Press with the back of a fork to flatten slightly if desired.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 1 to 2 minutes on the cookie sheets and then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 48

I had a meeting last night, and I am the designated snack bringer.  I wanted something simple that wouldn't make a huge batch, and came across this post about Chocolate Sriracha Shortbread.  Chocolate, cinnamon and chili together in a crisp little buttery bite?  Yeah, that got my attention.

Oddly enough, I didn't make the Chocolate Sriracha version.  I don't have any Sriracha sauce right now.  But I do have the chipotle powder called for in the original Epicurious recipe listed on that blog.  The cookies didn't have any of the smokiness of the chipotle, but they did have a nice bite and a good hit of chocolately bitterness.  I may replace the white sugar with dark brown sugar, but I wouldn't cut it back at all.