For the first time in my life I think I had a chocolate hangover. Maybe it was eating three additional pieces of See’s candy before I went to bed that threw me over the edge. I’m the savory-girl. The girl that hovers over the holiday buffet table where the cheesy dips are displayed and quietly dips my crackers in the pool of yummy calories in between conversations. But to make it clear, I’ll never double-dip. My table side manners are always in-check.
Offer me anything savory and I’ll eat till the plate is empty. But offer me some dessert and I’ll be happily satisfied with about 3 bites. My love of desserts runs deep and a slice of moist cake or thick-and-chewy cookies are what I crave. Even though I love being around desserts as well, those three bites are enough to end my day perfectly.
So how is it that a savory-girl can get a chocolate hangover with just three pieces of candy? You see, it started two weeks ago when we had a two day shoot at Terranea and the second day was “dessert day”. The chefs were bringing out the most incredible desserts, many of which had chocolate and one of which was the most decadent chocolate brownie I had ever laid my lips on. My fork and fingers had to make sure I had a bite of almost everything single dessert.
Next, these cookies. These dark chocolate gingerbread cookies had me sprung with holiday cheer. Oh my goodness, they’re so good, chewy, and full of fresh ginger and dark chocolate flavor that I swear I ate two in one sitting. For me, that’s a huge feat for savory-girl-me to eat two big cookies back to back.
We adapted these cookies from Alice’s fantastic new cookbook, Savory Sweet Life. Visit Alice’s blog and you’ll be treated to some incredible family recipes, including her spot-on dessert creations. After making her chocolate cookies, we had to re-visit another of her cookie recipes when the cravings called and her cookbook offered the perfect answer to our needs.
Alice’s original recipe is the soft chocolate gingersnap cookies. To make them extra chocolate-y, we added an extra-dark cocoa, along with some freshly grated ginger. What lies before you is a perfectly soft & chewy cookie that you can sink your teeth into.
To make them extra fun and holiday festive, we used sprinkled powdered sugar and Martha Stewart’s cookie stencils. This particular set is currently out of stock, but we were able to find a similar, possibly updated set, over here at amazon. This is the first time we’ve ever decorated with cookies and were curious how they’d turn out. The dark color of these gingerbread cookies provided the perfect base for the whole stenciling.
Each cookie became so much more festive with all the different holiday icon designs. Now these cookies had so much more visual interest and personality. That’s why it was so easy for me to eat two back to back. On top of that, we busted out the box of See’s candy to celebrate Thanksgiving so there you have it, the reason why I had a chocolate hangover.
I can’t wait till I sober up again from all the chocolate in the past week because the first thing I’m reaching for again are a few more of these terrific cookies. I’m addicted!
hugs,
diane
Here’s fun video we did making the cookies:
Yield: 24 cookies
Total Time: 40 min
Adapted from Alice Currah's Savory Sweet Life Cookbook. We used at special dark cocoa powder and used fresh grated spices when applicable. Alice's recipes are fantastic, especially her desserts. This is a great cookbook to have in the kitchen.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line sheet pans with parchment paper.