Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Cookie Recipes Chocolate Spice Cookies By Sarah Carey Sarah Carey Website Sarah is the editorial director of food for Martha Stewart Living. Editorial Guidelines Updated on November 22, 2019 Print Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Alpha Smoot Prep Time: 35 mins Total Time: 55 mins Yield: 12 Believe it or not, the two cookies in this photo share the same delicious ginger-spiced dough. The main recipe will result in a patterned cookie laced with cocoa, embossed with a cookie stamp, and brushed with an orange-butter glaze; head to the variation for a simpler—but no less delicious—version that is packed with chopped semi-sweet chocolate and rolled in sanding sugar for sweet sparkle. Ingredients Cookies 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 3 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder ¾ teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground cloves 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature ¾ cup packed light-brown sugar 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (from a 2-inch piece) ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 large egg, room temperature Glaze ⅔ cup confectioners' sugar 2 tablespoons Cointreau or strained orange juice, plus more if needed 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter Pinch of kosher salt Directions Cookies: Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. In a large bowl, beat butter with brown sugar, fresh ginger, and baking soda until creamy. Add egg; beat to combine. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture. Scoop a scant 1/4 cup of dough (1.75 ounces); roll into a ball. Dust a cookie stamp with flour, tapping out excess. Place dough in center of stamp, then press evenly to cover shape of design. Place, dough-side down, on a parchment-lined baking sheet and press until dough is about 1/4 inch thick. Carefully remove (if it sticks, just gather up dough and start over). Repeat with remaining dough, arranging cookies 2 inches apart. Refrigerate 20 minutes; use a 2 3/4-inch round cutter to trim excess. Bake until firm to the touch, 11 to 13 minutes. Glaze: Meanwhile, whisk together confectioners' sugar, Cointreau, butter, and salt; glaze should have the consistency of honey. (If too thick, whisk in more Cointreau.) Let cookies cool on sheets on a wire rack 8 minutes, then brush with glaze. Let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Cook's Notes To create the pattern on the spice cookies, use Nordic Ware Geo Cast stamps, available at Amazon. Variations Chocolate-Chunk Spice Cookies (Makes 28)Omit cocoa powder. Increase flour to 1 2/3 cups, increase brown sugar to 1 cup, and increase butter to 1 1/2 sticks. Beat in 6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) chopped semisweet chocolate at end of step 1. Use a 1 1/2-inch scoop to make balls (about 2 tablespoons). Roll in sanding sugar, then place about 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Bake, rotating sheets once, until cookies are just set but still a little bit soft in center and slightly darker around edges, 12 to 13 minutes. Omit glaze. Print