Chocolate Chunk Gingerbread Cookies

YIELD: 1 dozen
TIME: 30 min for prep, 12hrs chilling, 15 min for baking

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulphured blackstrap molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp boiling water
1 cup (6 ounces, 150g) of semi-sweet or dark chocolate cut into small chunks
sanding sugar for decorating

Preparation

Step 1:

Sift flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cocoa powder in a bowl. Add salt and grate nutmeg to your tasting (about 1/4 tsp).

Step 2:

Cream butter and freshly grated ginger together in a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy on medium speed. Don't forget to scrape the sides of the bowl in between steps.

Step 3:

Add brown sugar and molasses mixing and scraping sides after each addition.

Step 4:

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Beat half of the dry ingredients into butter mixture. Beat in baking soda mixture and remaining flour mixture. Mix in chocolate.

Step 5:

Place dough on parchment paper and roll into a log. Refrigerate until slightly firm (about 30 min). Take out log and cut cookies into portions of about 1 inch thickness. Space out cookies on a baking tray with parchment paper or silicone mat (2 trays in total). Place trays in fridge for 12 hours to let dough rest.

Step 6:

Preheat oven at 325°F. Take out cookies from fridge and sprinkle sand sugar on top of each cookie. Bake cookies until surfaces start to crack, 15 minutes. Rotate trays half way trough baking. Let cookies rest for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. Can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days or in the freezer for longer.