This is one of those recipes that I have been saving for a special occasion. Christmas seems as good a time as any for revealing the recipe for the BEST. COOKIES. IN. THE. WORLD.
(In my humble opinion).
OK so these cookies. The thing that makes them the best cookies in the world? They are made with fresh ginger. Which, when paired with rich molasses and sweet dates, produces the most awesome sweet and spicy and chewy treat ever. The PERFECT morsel for an after-dinner treat.
I may or may not have consumed seven of these today. Oops. I need to exercise more self control. Or leave my house and run far far away and never look back. One of those two things.
Actually, I don’t feel THAT bad about eating seven, because these are healthier than most cookies. They are made with whole wheat flour, and half the amount of sugar than your average cookie. Yet, they are still delightfully sweet because of the natural sugars in the dates, fresh ginger, and molasses (without being TOO sweet). Not to mention, ginger is really (REALLY!) good for you. These ain’t no salad, but as far as cookies go… pretty healthy!
Also, they are sparkly. Because you roll them in turbinado sugar before baking them. Which gives them an awesome crunchy and sweet outer layer to compliment the spicy, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth inside and makes them a beautiful treat to bring to a Christmas party or give as a gift. What’s Christmas without sparkles?
If you can’t find dates, I’ve made these with other dried fruits before (apricots, figs, and a combination of both). You can use another kind of dried fruit if you want (I bet golden raisins would be delicious!), or you can omit them. OR, you can add pieces of chocolate! These cookies are flexible… as long as you have the base dough, try mixing in other fun ingredients. You can’t go wrong.
Make too many? Sugared out after all the sweets of the holidays? Freeze the extra and enjoy individually for a bite-sized after dinner sweet treat.
And without further delay, I present to you, the recipe for the BEST. COOKIES. IN. THE. WORLD! Enjoy, and merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you have a restful week full of family, fun, food, and sparkles :-)
Other cookie recipes
- Salted almond chocolate chunk cookies
- Orange chai cookies
- Norwegian Butter Cookies
- Maple Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Spicy Ginger Date Cookies
Equipment
- small cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour spelt flour can also be used
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1/2 cup butter (one stick)
- 1/2 cup dark molasses
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger minced (from about 2")
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 cup dried dates pitted and chopped
- 1/2 cup turbinado sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Mix together the whole wheat flour (2 cups), baking soda (1/2 teaspoon), kosher salt (1/2 teaspoon), and ground ginger (1 tablespoon) in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, melt together butter (1/2 cup), molasses (1/2 cup), sugar (1/2 cup), and fresh ginger (2 tablespoons). Allow to cool for a bit, and whisk in the egg. Stir in the dates (1 cup).
- Add butter mixture to flour mixture, stirring to just combine.
- Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
- When ready to bake, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Put the turbinado sugar (1/2 cup) in a small bowl.
- Using a small kitchen scoop or spoon, get small portions of the dough and roll into no bigger than 1-inch balls.
- Coat each ball in turbinado sugar and place on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake each batch for 7-9 minutes. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.
Notes
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
kalpana sheth
Can i freeze the cookies to have later? Outstanding cookies! My daughter made them for Father’s Day and hubby loved them!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Yes, they can definitely be frozen! I recommend flash freezing them on a baking sheet for 30 minutes or so, then after they are hardened, you can add them to an airtight bag or container and they won’t stick together.