Exotic Spice Cookies with Ginger, Cardamom and Rose Water

Recipe courtesy Camilla Saulsbury, Nacogdoches, TX

Show: Ultimate Recipe ShowdownEpisode: Ultimate Recipe Showdown: Cookies

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (41)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(41)

Cook Time:
13 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Times:

Prep: 20 min
Inactive Prep: 1 hr 0 min
Cook: 13 min
Total:: 1 hr 33 min

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Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon rosewater
3/4 cup turbinado (raw) sugar, for rolling

Directions

Whisk the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, pepper and salt in a medium bowl until blended. Mix in the crystallized ginger. Set aside momentarily.

In a large bowl beat the brown sugar, butter and shortening with an electric mixer until fluffy (do not overbeat-it will add too much air). Add the egg, honey and rosewater and beat until blended. Stir in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon, mixing until just until blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray 2 cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon the turbinado sugar in thick layer onto small plate. Using wet hands, form dough into 1 1/4-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat completely. Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing 2 to 3 inches apart.

Bake cookies until cracked on top but still soft to touch, about 11 to 13 minutes. Cool on sheets 1 minute. Carefully transfer cookies to wire racks; cool completely.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Exotic Spice Cookies with Ginger, Cardamom and Rose Water
Jennifer South San Francisco, CA 09-07-2009
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nice change from old standby cookies
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

READ THE REVIEWS!!! There are crucial measurement corrections in here, and if you don't have the corrections, the cookies... will NOT turn out right. It is quite expensive to finance these cookies, since so many of the spices are not everyday spices. BUT, it's totally worth it. I used less crystallized ginger, just because I was concerned about it being over-ginger'd and mine turned out great. My friend has already told me that she wants a batch of these all to herself for her birthday, so I must have done something right!Read more
recipe Exotic Spice Cookies with Ginger, Cardamom and Rose Water
Cheryl Deerfield Beach, FL 05-11-2009
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Surprised after reading the reviews
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

First, it is not usual that I will spend money on an ingredient I probably won't use often (cardamom). But I really wanted to... try these because I love ginger and spiced desserts in general. I was glad I read the reviews shortly after making the dough, because it didn't look right. Then I saw the flour needed to be adjusted. I also chilled mine overnight. The cookies are wonderful. Chewy like I like them, and very pleasing to taste. Now...I added more candied ginger, rather than less. But I made my own. A 3 oz package of candied ginger at Whole Foods is almost 4 dollars. Ugh. I bought a pound of ginger and made my own. With the cost of sugar and ginger ($5) I got 32 oz of candied ginger, 8 oz of ginger syrup, ginger water to add to my tea, ginger sugar (the leftover from the candied ginger) that I rolled the cookies in, and enough syrup left to cook further into ginger glass candy. Not only did I get great cookies, I learned to make something new, and got some awesome by-products of a simple recipe. Here's the recipe I used for the candied ginger: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/12/candied_ginger.htmlRead more
recipe Exotic Spice Cookies with Ginger, Cardamom and Rose Water
Anne Strongsville, OH 05-01-2009
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Very disappointed
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

I just finished making these "winning recipe" cookies....and I have to say they were far from a winning cookie recipe. The... flavor was okay, and that was after I reduced the amount of crystalized ginger to 1/3 cup instead of the 3/4 cup. I still thought they were on the sweet side, and I would think uneatable if I put in the correct amount of ginger. Also, they were as flat as a pancake, not like the ones made on the show. My ingredients were fresh, so I don't understand it. For the money spent on them, it definitely was not worth it! Read more
recipe Exotic Spice Cookies with Ginger, Cardamom and Rose Water
Mary Marshfield, MA 04-29-2009
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Wonderfull
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

These cookies are wonderful. I had to watch the show again to see if I missed anything. I think the Food Network should... give Carmilla her own show and take some of their awefull shows off the air. Lets get back to actual cooking, not loud, crud, personalities trying to be comedians. Carmilla would be great and we could actually learn something. Giada, Ina and Gale are a good example. Read more
recipe Exotic Spice Cookies with Ginger, Cardamom and Rose Water
Kim Winnipeg, MB 04-23-2009
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One of the best cookies I ever made!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I wanted to make this cookie ever since I watched it win on the Ultimate Recipe Showdown!! It was crunchy on the outside... from the turbinado sugar and soft and perfect on the inside. Only problem I had was that I should have doubled the recipe. The cookies never made it from the cooling rack. FANTASTICRead more
recipe Exotic Spice Cookies with Ginger, Cardamom and Rose Water
kerrie grants pass, OR 04-10-2009
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Wonderful Cookie
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

My 5 year old son told me this was the best cookie he'd ever had, and even though I'm a chocoholic, I'm inclined to agree... with him. I knew I wanted to make it when I saw the ingredients, and the recipe did not disappoint. I'm not a big fan of gingersnaps, but these are great. Probably because they have my favorite spices in them. I really liked how I could keep them in the oven just a bit longer and make my husband happy with a crisp cookie, and I could bake them for the minimum time, and have a nice, soft, chewy cookie to make me happy. Read more