More gingerbread!

More birthday baking.... but, you might ask, another gingerbread cookie?? Ah, but this one is totally different--It's fluffier and sweeter, and it has a history:

This recipe marks a pivotal moment in my personal culinarybildung: I believe it was senior year of college that I found this recipe (sortof) in the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook and grudgingly decided to veganize it... to my surprise, the vegan version was fantastic! Thus, I began to realize that maybe vegan baking wasn't a second-rate sort of activity... over the years (and at one point when I was living far away, it involved a dear former cooking partner looking up the recipe and typing it up for me!), this recipe has changed a bit more: in addition to the egg-replacer and Earth Balance substitutions, it now also contains half whole-wheat flour, more spices, and no sugar on the outside. For this run, I also added 1/2 tsp ground mustard, with good results, I think.

Ginger Cookies
(adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook)

Ingredients
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c (i.e., 12 TB or 1 1/2 sticks) vegan butter, softened
1/3 c packed dark brown sugar
1/3 c turbinado sugar
1 "egg"
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c molasses

Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 375*.
2) You need two large bowls. In one bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour to salt). In the other bowl, cream butter and sugars. When mixed, add in "egg" and vanilla, and mix. Add molasses, then add dry to wet. Don't overmix.
3) Grease cookie sheets if necessary (i.e., if not teflon-coated). You may wish to put the dough in the freezer while you are doing this to firm it up a bit.
4) Roll dough into 1-in-diameter balls. Place on cookie sheet at least 1 in apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms have started to brown. Makes 40-50 small cookies.