Chocolate Dipped Soft Ginger Cookies

Ingredients (~18 cookies)

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground cloves
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp whole milk
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar for rolling

Mixing Dry Ingredients

Firstly, mix the dry ingredients together by combining flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves in a medium bowl.

Use a whisk to thoroughly combine all of these ingredients and then set this mixture aside; the total amount will need to be added to the wet ingredients in three stages.

Creaming Butter and Sugars

Next, cream the butter and sugars together in a stand mixer on high for approximately 3–4 minutes until very light and fluffy.

Once this step is complete, switch to low speed and add in molasses and egg; beat together until fully mixed, approximately 1 minute.

The combination of both molasses and egg will result in a dark glossy mixture.

Combining Wet and Dry Ingredients

Once the butter mixture has been completed, add in approximately 1/3 of the dry flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until both mixtures are just combined.

Continue to add the flour mixture until it has all been combined into the butter mixture, scraping the sides after each addition.

The final mixture will be very soft and a bit sticky.

At this time, cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to refrigerate for 30 minutes.

This allowing the dough to cool makes it much easier to work with.

Shaping and Coating Cookies

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

Cut two pieces of parchment paper and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Next, measure out a 3/4 cup of granulated sugar into a small bowl.

Drop a tablespoon-sized portion of dough from the cooled bowl and roll it into a ball shape.

Roll each ball-shaped cookie dough ball in the sugar so all sides are coated in sugar.

Position the rolled cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets 2 inches apart from each other.

Baking Cookies

You will need to bake cookies in a pre-heated 350°F oven for 10 minutes; at the end of the 10 minutes, the cookies will look set but still soft.

Remove them from the oven and allow to cool on the parchment-lined baking sheets for approximately 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes, you will use the back of a wide spatula to gently flatten the cookies to a 1/4 inch thickness.

Flattening the cookies will provide a larger surface area to dip the cookies in chocolate later after baking.

After you have flattened the cookies, you can remove them from the baking sheet and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.

Preparation of the Chocolate Dip

To make the chocolate dip, place the chocolate chips, butter, and milk into a small saucepan.

Heat the saucepan over medium heat while constantly stirring to prevent scorching until the chocolate is completely smooth and shiny; you will need to continue stirring for approximately 3–4 minutes.

When finished, the dip should be runny enough for you to dip into—but not so runny that it drips off immediately.

Dipping Cookies

After the cookies have completely cooled down to room temperature, dip half of each cookie into the melted chocolate.

Gently shake off excess chocolate and return dipped cookies back on the wire rack to set up.

The chocolate will take approximately 15–20 minutes to harden at room temperature; or you may place dipped cookies into the refrigerator for approximately 5 minutes to speed up the drying process.