Ginger And Chocolate Chip Hearts Recipes

GINGER AND CHOCOLATE CHIP HEARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine first 4 ingredients in processor and blend. Add butter and vanilla and cut in until mixture resembles fine meal, using on/off turns. Add pecans and process until finely chopped. Add chocolate chips and ginger and mix in.
• Transfer mixture to bowl and gather together. Divide into thirds. Roll 1 piece out between sheets of waxed paper to thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut out cookies, using 3-inch heart-shaped cutter. Transfer to ungreased cookie sheets. Gather scraps. Repeat rolling and cutting with remaining dough. Re-roll scraps and cut additional cookies. Sprinkle cookies with sugar. Bake until just beginning to color, about 20 minutes. Cool on sheets on rack 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack and cool. (Cookies can be prepared 3 days ahead. Store in airtight container.)

BYRON'S GINGER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt into a small bowl; set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and milk. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients using a wooden spoon. Finally, mix in the chocolate chips and crystallized ginger. Use two spoons to drop cookie dough 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheet.
• Bake on the middle rack of the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes. The cookies should be golden brown on the sides and the top should have lost it's shine. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

CANDIED GINGER SHORTBREAD HEARTS

Steps:

• In a bowl with an electric mixer cream together the butter, the brown sugar, and the ground ginger until the mixture is light and fluffy and add the flour and the salt. Beat the dough until it is just combined and beat in the candied ginger. Halve the dough, roll out each half 1/4 inch thick between sheets of wax paper, and freeze the dough on baking sheets for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is very firm. Working with half the dough at a time, remove the top sheets of wax paper and cut out cookies with a 2 1/4-inch heart-shaped cutter. (The dough should be cold so that the cookies retain their shape.) Arrange the cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheets, bake them in batches in the middle of a preheated 300°F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they are pale golden, and transfer them to a rack. Gather the scraps, reroll the dough, and make more cookies in the same manner. Let the cookies cool completely and sprinkle them with the confectioners' sugar, sifted. The cookies keep in an airtight container for 5 days.