Chewy Orange Gingerbread Cookies

Crisp at the edges and chewy orange-gingerbread cookies with orange extract and white pepper. These store and ship well, perfect for gifting! The dough will keep in the fridge for about a week and in the freezer, well-wrapped, for 3 months.

Servings

20-36cookies

Servings

20-36cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2sticks unsalted buttermelted and cooled slightly
1cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4cup molassesI like Brer Rabbit mild flavor
1/2teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2teaspoon orange extract
2cups all-purpose flour
1/2teaspoon salt
1teaspoon baking soda
1teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2teaspoon ground ginger
1/2teaspoon ground cloves
1/2teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8-1/4teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2cup granulated sugarfor rolling

Instructions

In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, 1 cup sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the molasses and extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and white pepper in another medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend with a fork or wooden spoon. Cover, and chill dough overnight or for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Roll a generous tablespoon of dough into balls (a #50 cookie scoop is great for this), and roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until tops are cracked but the centers still look moist. Cool on wire racks.
If you want a slightly more substantial cookie, use a #30 cookie scoop, 2 tablespoons dough, for each cookie. You will need to add a minute or two to the bake time and the batch will make about 20 cookies instead of 36.