![Sparkling Shortbread Cookies](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/12/07/multimedia/YK-Sparkling-Shortbread-1-a959/YK-Sparkling-Shortbread-1-a959-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Chocolate-Cherry Ginger Cookies
![Chocolate-Cherry Ginger Cookies](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/12/08/dining/08COOKIESREX23-CHOCCHERRY/01COOKIESREX23-CHOCCHERRY-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- ½cup/100 grams turbinado sugar
- ¾cup/150 grams granulated sugar
- 6tablespoons/85 grams unsalted butter, melted and warm
- 2tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral oil
- 2tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 2¼teaspoons ground ginger
- 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼teaspoon ground cloves
- ¾teaspoon fine salt
- ¼cup/75 grams unsulfured molasses
- 1large egg
- 1¾cups/225 grams all-purpose flour
- 1¾teaspoons baking soda
- 1cup/140 grams roughly chopped milk chocolate bar
- ½cup/75 grams dried cherries or cranberries, roughly chopped
Preparation
- Step 1
Place racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Put the turbinado sugar in a shallow bowl and set aside.
- Step 2
To a large bowl, add the granulated sugar, butter, oil, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt, and whisk to combine.
- Step 3
Add the molasses and egg to the bowl, and whisk until smooth. Add the flour and baking soda, and stir with a rubber spatula until a few streaks of flour remain.
- Step 4
Add the chopped chocolate and cherries, and stir until well-combined and the flour is completely incorporated and no longer streaky.
- Step 5
Portion the cookies into 24 balls that are roughly 2 tablespoons/35 grams each, roll them in the turbinado sugar, and place them on the prepared baking sheets, 12 cookies per sheet.
- Step 6
Bake the cookies for 15 to 17 minutes, rotating the sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through, until crackly on top but still quite soft in the center. Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheets, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Amazing, delicious cookies! I'm a huge fan of Yossi Arefi's recipes. My only suggestion with this one (and some of her others, actually) is that you mix the flour and baking soda together before adding them to the rest of the ingredients. You lose the one-bowl appeal but won't risk finding scary clumps of baking soda while you're mixing the dough. Cleaning out a bowl that only had a little flour in it is a small price to pay to be sure your leavener is properly distributed.
I wasn’t sure about chocolate and ginger, but I’m not sure about most things these days. They are delicious!! Obligatory substitutions—I swapped the same amount of brown sugar for the turbinando and did half cherry/cranberry and half milk/dark chocolate. A great recipe for procrastinating finals.
These are the best cookies I’ve ever made - and I make a lot of cookies.
Made these cookies tonight. Mistakenly added cayenne pepper ( it was next to the nutmeg). Realized my error before mixing and got most of it out. Perhaps an 1/8th of a tsp . Cookies now have a warm slightly spicy kick. Actually rather nice with the chocolate, cherries and ginger
these were pretty good and easy. i will make them again, but with a bit less chocolate, more tart cherries and because i worship at the altar of all things ginger, i am going to add some chopped candied ginger!
Made these at my chocolate-cherry loving husband's request (cause it's Christmas, after all). I used only 1/2 cup sugar and didn't roll them in more and still found them still deliciously sweet. I also used semi-chocolate chips because I didn't have a chocolate bar. Very easy to make and a big hit.
Next time, I'll bake only for 13-15 min for a softer cookie. The 15-17 min recommend time gives a crisp almost hard exterior good for dunking in hot beverage. Allow 2" between cookies. They spread.
yummy but the extra sugar is overkill. I used dark chocolate chips and that was delicious
These are delicious. I flattened them slightly and sprinkled the turbinado sugar on top rather than rolling. Also, I used cup-for-cup gluten free flour and they turned out perfectly at 15 minutes of baking. Five stars!
I followed the recipe with one change, cardamom instead of clove because of what I had on hand. Best cookies I've made in a long time!!! I cooked 8 minutes, rotated the pans, then 8 minutes more. So good!
I tend to like things less sweet so I skipped the turbinado sugar, added a 1/4 cup chopped amaro cherries, and subbed in semi dark for the milk chocolate. The chewiness and flavors were spot on. It's a great holiday cookie.
So simple! One bowl, no effortful mixing, dough is easy to work with. Both sheets in the oven at the same time so quicker. Used cranberries. did not press balls down and they set perfectly. Will make again with cherries.
Loved these! Cook time was considerably less, they were done in about 12 minutes. They continue to cook when removed so don’t overbake! Cloves were a bit strong, use a scant 1/4 tsp. A nice addition to holiday cookies!
These cookies are good if a bit heavy on the clove. I'll reduce it to 1/8 teaspoon next time. Also....more dried cherries!
I did a test batch of these cookies (1/2 the recipe). The only substituted item was using semi-sweet chips instead of milk chocolate chunks. My initial reaction...don't love the ground cloves, a little too strong. I drizzled some melted white chocolate on top to give it a little more sweetness & a little more flare visually. I will make again & eliminate the cloves & use the milk chocolate to see if that makes a difference. I do love the crunchy-chew!
After several unpleasant run ins with clumps of baking soda, I alway measure it into a fine strainer set over the bowl of ingredients. I can then press the little lumps through the holes with my finger" or spoon.
Loved the recipe- Did sub finely chopped candied ginger for some of the ground ginger (since I ran out) but it was wonderful. Ginger was not subtle, but not overwhelming. Hubby loved the cookies so much-- as much as his favorite chocolate chip cookies.
Good but lacking a wow factor. Next time I will add a tad more salt (or maldon on top) definitely more cherries, dark instead of milk chocolate (didn’t really do much to flavor profile) and maybe even walnuts instead of turbinado.
Really good with chopped candied ginger substituted for the cherries and dark chocolate- I used 70%- for the milk chocolate. I just dip the tops in turbinado sugar, not the whole ball, and cook for 12-13 minutes. I have made the version with cherries and everyone prefers the ginger/dark chocolate variation.
This recipe yields a cookie that for me is trying to be too many things. The chocolate and cherry are not compatible with what is otherwise a decent molasses spice cookie. As it stands the chocolate cherry addition does not improve things I’d rather a simple chewy molasses cookie or a decadent chocolate and cherry.
Delicious recipe, I did leave out rolling them in the turbinado sugar because it seemed like it would be too much for me and I did dark chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate which worked just fine as a substitute for the chopped chocolate. If you prefer a darker chocolate/less sweet flavor like I do, I would really recommend skipping the turbinado sugar and using dark chocolate instead.
Made with cranberries and candied ginger instead of cherries, and dark chocolate orange bar, and turned out great. These are basically dressed up ginger snaps. They spread though! Don’t cook for as long as the recipe says.
I left the turbinado sugar out. They were sweet enough without it. Perhaps lost a bit in the presentation, but don't like it too sweet. I increased the spices a bit for more flavor
These were excellent! I took advice from other commenters and cooked for 13-14 minutes. I used dried cranberries and dark chocolate chips. Perfect for Christmas, with a great balance of sweet, tart, chocolatey, and warm spices.
The cookie is too spiced for my taste, it's on the verge of overwhelming. I would half the amount of spices if ever bother making this again. The texture is great and it does come together very quickly. Maybe dark or semi sweet chocolate would have been better but for sure... Way too spiced.
These were tasty, but the ginger drowned out the other flavors. Next time I’d probably cut way back on the ginger and up the amount of cherries.
Lovely results and made per recipe the first time. However, the closes were an overpowering and the ginger a bit much. Second effort I refined. Used 2 tsp ginger, no cloves, added 1/2 tsp cardamom. I also liked them a bit smaller, using 30 grams per cookie and baking a total of 12 minutes. To be repeated!
These are the BEST cookies. Super-chocolaty with a little ginger-spiced zing. Made as written except we used dark chocolate chunks, a bit of cardamom rather than clove, and added a bit of finely chopped candied ginger. Delicious. Bonus: they look as good as they taste. We are making our second batch for Christmas. These are a sure hit, and if they're not we will happily eat them all ourselves.
These are the BEST cookies. Super-chocolaty with a littleginger-spiced zing. Made as written except we substituted dark chocolate chunks and added a bit of finely chopped candied ginger. Cooked them a little longer than called for, but they came out as described-- a nice crunch on the outside, and soft goodness inside. Bonus: they look as good as they taste. We are making our second batch for Christmas. These are a sure hit, and if they're not we will happily eat them all ourselves.
A bit underwhelming. Not quite chewy enough and the flavors were not strong enough to overcome the sweetness. I even added chopped crystalized ginger. I almost tossed them but didn't have time to make something else for holiday cookie packages.
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