Saying hello to the East coast with some Milk Chocolate Gingersnap Cookies

Jeff and I had been talking recently about making a treat to send out to his former co-workers back in Maryland. I had some free time earlier in the week and was itchin' to bake some cookies in the kitchen, so I made a batch of these Milk Chocolate Gingersnap Cookies. I made these as I needed something sturdy enough to ship and one where the flavors would only get better over time.

The dough for these cookies is a little different that those Swedish Gingersnaps that we fell in love with a couple months ago - this batch has a bit less molasses, but uses rich brown sugar instead of granulated. The dough is also a bit softer as I used less flour, but I was still able to handle it without the dough sticking to my hands as I rolled it into balls.

The cookies had a hard chew to them, but they were not dry or crumbly - their crispness was accentuated by the sparkling granulated sugar the balls are rolled in before baking. I usually prefer a darker bittersweet chocolate in cookies, but I'm glad we tossed in the milk chocolate chunks as the creamy sweetness was a welcome contrast to the snappy spices. I did test a couple before baking - we flattened a couple and left two alone to see what they would do as they baked. We thought they spread just enough to cook evenly and have a nice shape without having to flatten the dough balls - I couldn't tell much difference in the end, I think the flattened ones were just a tiny bit thinner. I liked how they kept a decent thickness so the cookies felt substantial enough as you ate them.

Recipes
Milk Chocolate Chip Gingersnap Cookies