This week marks five years since I hit “publish” on my first blog post! When I started this blog, I honestly thought I might do it for a year or two. But five years in, I’m still loving it and have no intention of stopping. To celebrate five years of baking and blogging fun, I decided to create a signature cookie recipe: one that reflects not only the name of my blog, but also the cozy vibes of this beautiful place I call home (and some of my favorite flavors). Everyone give a warm welcome to Northern Ginger Cookies!
A New Kind of Ginger Cookie
Northern Ginger Cookies are soft maple ginger cookies that are spiked with espresso (in two forms…I love my coffee) and dipped (or drizzled, if you prefer) in a maple-espresso glaze. In other words, you get your cookies and coffee all in one bite.
These cookies are a little different than traditional soft molasses cookies. While they’re still spiced with ginger, cinnamon, and a touch of cloves and cardamom, they have pure maple syrup in place of some of the molasses, which gives them a lighter flavor profile. I also added brown butter to enhance the flavor. Finally, I rolled them in a ginger-sugar mixture before baking, then added a glaze (which is flavored with more maple syrup, some vanilla bean paste, and a little espresso powder) after they cooled.
Honestly, this combination of flavors is everything I want to eat on a cold winter day while I’m wrapped up in cozy blankets inside.
I think you’re going to love these cookies.
Tips for Making Your Best Northern Ginger Cookies
Ok, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of baking these cookies. Here are a few things to keep in mind for this recipe:
- Brown your butter. Brown butter adds SO. MUCH. FLAVOR. to these cookies! I tried making them without browning the butter, and they were…underwhelming. So don’t skip this step (plus, when you brown butter, it evaporates the water in it, so if you make them without browning the butter they’ll turn out flat and sad). If you’re not sure how to brown butter, I’ve got you covered in this post.
- Let your browned butter chill. Once you brown your butter, pop it in the fridge to chill for about 40 minutes, stirring halfway through. When you mix up your cookie dough, you want the butter cooled down and preferably starting to thicken up again.
- Chill your espresso or coffee, or use cold press if you have it. Make sure your espresso is room temperature or colder when you add it to your cookie dough. I like to brew my espresso right after I brown my butter so it can chill in the freezer until the brown butter is cooled.
- Use pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup. Don’t have any or prefer a darker molasses cookie? swap the maple syrup out for more molasses.
- Use fresh spices. The spices add a lot of flavor to these cookies, so it’s worth it to use fresh spices. You don’t have to grind your own or anything (unless you really want to) — just make sure the spices you’re using haven’t been sitting in the cupboard for years.
- Roll your cookies in sugar AND glaze them. Yep, I know, it sounds like a lot of sugar, but trust me, don’t skip the rolling sugar. The cookies will be way prettier AND tastier!
- Add ginger to your rolling sugar! We’ve all done cinnamon sugar (and if you’ve made my Chai Spice Snickerdoodles you’ve done chai spice sugar). This is similar, but we’re using ground ginger instead. It really amps up the ginger flavor of these cookies.
- Use good quality vanilla bean paste for the glaze. I like Nielsen-Massey or Heilala Vanilla‘s. I’ve also seen VB paste at Trader Joe’s, though I haven’t tried theirs so can’t comment on the quality. I listed this as optional in the recipe, because I know not everyone has it and it can be kind of pricey (though definitely worth it in my opinion)…but the glaze is vastly better with it.
- Dip or drizzle…you choose! I like the look of these cookies half-dipped in the glaze, but if you’d rather have a little less glaze, feel free to drizzle it over the top instead. If you do this, you might want to thin out the glaze with a little extra milk. Also, you can probably get by with a half batch of glaze if you opt to drizzle.
Cheers to Five Years of Baking and Blogging!
I hope you all love these cookies as much as I do. I can’t wait to see your Northern Ginger Cookies all across the socials (don’t forget to tag me on IG or FB if you post photos!).
Thank you all for reading and baking along with me for the past five years! I love creating recipes, sharing them with you all, and seeing you bake them for your loved ones. Makes me a little teary, if I’m honest. 🥲 Cheers to five years, and hopefully many more! 🥂 Happy baking!
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Northern Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch each cardamom and cloves
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 3/4 c butter, softened
- 3 T pure maple syrup
- 2 T cold espresso or strong coffee
- 1 T molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
Rolling Sugar
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
Maple Espresso Glaze
- 1 T melted butter
- 1 1/2 c powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp espresso powder
- 1 T pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (optional)
- 2-3 T milk (dairy or non-dairy)
- pinch salt
Instructions
- First, brown your butter. (See my post on brown butter for details and process photos, if you're not sure how to do that.) Once butter is browned, pour it into a separate dish, scraping out all those delicious browned butter bits. Pop the dish in the fridge to cool for about 40 minutes, stirring once or twice.As the butter cools, it should thicken a little. It'll still be fluid, but more like a sauce than melted butter.3/4 c butter,
- Meanwhile, brew your espresso or coffee, measure out 2T, and chill it (I like to pop mine in the freezer while the brown butter is chilling).
- Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl.2 1/4 c all-purpose flour, 2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, pinch each cardamom and cloves, 1 tsp instant espresso powder, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.
- Once brown butter is cooled, get on with mixing up your cookie dough!In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer), beat brown butter and both sugars for 2-3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.1/2 c granulated sugar, 1/2 c brown sugar
- Add egg, maple syrup, molasses, vanilla, and cold espresso/strong coffee. Beat at medium speed until well combined, about 1-2 minutes.3 T pure maple syrup, 2 T cold espresso or strong coffee, 1 T molasses, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 large egg
- Slowly add dry ingredients, continuing to mix at low speed just until combined.
- Next, mix up your rolling sugar: combine granulated sugar and ground ginger in a small bowl. Using a medium cookie scoop or your hands, scoop/roll cookie dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll in rolling sugar, and place on prepared cookie sheets.1/2 c granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes or so, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely before adding the glaze.
- Next, mix up your glaze: Combine powdered sugar, espresso powder, melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla bean paste (if using), a pinch of salt, and 2T of the milk. Whisk together, adding the rest of the milk as needed. You're looking for a glaze that's on the thicker side, so when you dip your cookies it won't all ooze off.1 T melted butter, 1 1/2 c powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp espresso powder, 1 T pure maple syrup, 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste, pinch salt, 2-3 T milk
- Dip cooled cookies halfway into the glaze, then place back on the cooling rack to dry. I like to let mine sit out for a couple of hours, so the glaze really solidifies, before I store them in an airtight container. At room temperature, cookies will keep for about 5 days.
Notes
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