InsaneJournal

Current mood:	contemplative
Entry tags:	character: basch, course: desserts, fandom: final fantasy x

Cranberry-Ginger Basch fon Ronsencookies
Hello! First post here so I hope my coding is on par. ^_^

These are tricky to make this time of year, what with the trouble of getting fresh cranberries after January 1, but they are delectable. Scruffy around the edges and handsome in a roughed-up kind of way, but chewy and spicy with bursts of hot sweet ginger and tart cranberries. An excellent cookie for your Christmas gift tins. If you chop the cranberries super fine in a food processor, the cookies will have a pink tinge, but half-chopped cranberries will give you little blood-drops.



Basch fon Ronsencookies

Oven @ 375


3/4 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/3 c butter, softened
1/3 c milk
1 egg
2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 c chopped pecans, toasted
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (buy extra if you or someone in your household compulsively eats it. Penzey's Spices is good, but our Organic market has candied ginger in big juicy chunks that's super good, too. Look in the candy and snack section.)
1 1/2 c fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped (just cut in half is fine. Don't use conventional dried cranberries (craisins), they are too sweet with added sugar. My organic market has freeze-dried crans that have no sugar and are good to use in the off-season. You might want to add a smidge of water to them to give them back some juice.)

To toast nuts, place on an ungreased pan in the oven for a few minutes, shaking often. Or do the same in an ungreased skillet over low heat, until they start to smell really good.

Lightly grease cookie sheets or use parchment paper. Combine the sugars and butter in large bowl and beat on medium speed until well blended. Add the milk and egg and beat until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and powdered ginger and beat well. Gently stir in the cranberries, pecans, and candied ginger. Drop the dough by the teaspoon about 2" apart onto the cookie sheets. Bake @ 375 for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown. Remove from the pans and cool on wire rack. (Or scarf up half a dozen while they are still warm and the cranberries explode with tangy goodness that makes the sweet so much better.)