Spicy Gingerbread Twigs

Today was Tuesdays With Dorie.  I’m a flake.  Sort of.  I made the Gingerbread Baby Cakes, but did not like them, so I decided not to post them.  The recipe (for me) has WAY too much molasses.  So all I could taste was molasses and not the spices.  Mine turned out a little too fudgy (maybe not baked long enough) and the centers sunk, which always annoys me with cakes.  I only made half the recipe and it still had one cup of molasses in it.  I knew it would be too much for my liking, but made it anyway.  I’m not bitter or angry.  I actually recently saw the episode on Baking With Julia on my PBS station where these were made.  After baking the cakes and smelling that great gingerbread smell, I was wanting something with ginger. 

Just happened to be reading the current issue of Better Homes and Gardens and saw these Spicy Gingerbread Twigs and they intrigued me enough that I made them today.  I love biscotti and have made gingerbread biscotti before, so I knew a crunchy cookie with gingerbread flavor would be good, well, that and who doesn’t like gingersnaps (besides my husband)? ;)  It was simple to follow the recipe and I only changed one thing—since we don’t drink or use coffee and this recipe had a quarter cup of brewed coffee in it, I got a quarter cup of warm water and added one tablespoon of cocoa powder to it.  Nothing like substituting chocolate for coffee!

After making the dough, which was really easy to make with melted butter, molasses and my “coffee” combined together and adding it to the dry ingredients, it was ready to divide in half and roll in to the suggested 6 x 12 inches.  “Twigs” were then cut with a pizza cutter and it was baked.  Much like biscotti, after the first baking, the temperature of the oven is turned down, the cookie twigs were spaced apart and then baked again.  Before baking, the dough was sprinkled with coarse sugar.

I hadn’t yet made the cut down the middle for this photo so they weren’t so long, but they are about six inches long.  The magazine recipe suggests cutting them in the short direction, but it comes out the same when it is then cut down the middle.

Get the recipe on the link above, since I didn’t change much, I’m not going to re-type it.  Oh, the recipe also had some optional cayenne pepper, which I decided to leave out so I could really taste the ginger and because I’m a wimp. ;)

Kevin’s UVU department Christmas party is at our house Friday night.  While the meal is being catered by Honeybaked Ham, I am making some desserts and think these twigs will be fun to have set out along with some other things.

Sorry about the TWD mishap, I know many loved the cakes and have seen a few that look better than mine did.  I also wonder with my sinking-in-the-center issue if it has to do with the high altitude and I should have adjusted the recipe a little. 

If you’re looking for a great gingerbread cake, try this one, from my friend, Paige at For Love of the Table.  I think I’ll make that one—soon—maybe for the Christmas party on Friday.  It has chocolate—I love chocolate and ginger.