Fall. My favorite time of year. Rustling leaves. Rich colors. Sunlight that breaks in at an angle. Time to turn slowly inward, to the home, to the hearth, to reading books and poetry.
And of course fall serves up some of my favorite foods: rich stews, soups, roasts, made from and with squashes, pumpkins, root vegetables, brussels sprouts, and of course apples.
Summer apples start to appear in farmers markets in mid-summer, but they don't really start to show in large quantities in the markets with their great variety until mid to late August and then there's a flood of them and apple cider for weeks. So many different varieties, names, colors, textures. So much fun to try different varieties and find new favorites.
Apples are not native to the Americas--they originated around the area of Iran--but they have taken hold well here both agriculturally and culturally. One interesting fact about apples is that they are not true breeding. In other words, you could plant the seeds of an apple you love, and not one of the trees that came from that apple would produce apples like it. Most of the apples produced would, in fact, probably be inedible.
Sadly the vast variety of apples that used to exist is declining, in part because there are very few commercially grown varieties of apples. I hate to see the many varieties of apples and their wonderful names disappearing. So I say, get thee to a farmers market and try some new varieties of apples. Or find a farm where you can spend a day picking apples. Then come home and read Robert Frost's poem, "After Apple Picking" and enjoy the satisfaction of a day in the orchard.
This week's Sunday Supper is all about apples. I wanted to try making a cookie that I imagined a few months ago at the height of summer when I absolutely did not wish to bake: Apple gingersnap cookies. Apple and ginger are fantastic flavors together, and this cookie is no exception.
The cookie dough is easy to make, but you need to plan ahead. The dough should chill for at least 12 hours to let the flavors meld. I used boiled apple cider syrup in this recipe, which I discovered last fall, but you can use maple syrup, molasses, or even honey if you prefer, although doing so will change the flavor and the texture of the cookie a bit. For this cookie, I give the ingredients in milliliters and grams because I started with a gingersnap cookie from my favorite Swedish cookbook, Bonniers Stora Kokbok, and modified the recipe from there. Just about every measuring cup will give you the option of using milliliters, just be aware of the difference.
Ingredients
- 100 ml water
- 400 ml sugar
- 300 grams unsalted butter
- 100 ml apple cider syrup
- 1 Tbsp ground cloves
- 1 Tbsp ground dried ginger
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 250 ml coarsely grated apple (from about 1 peeled, cored apple)
- 1,200 ml flour (plus more for flouring the board)
- 2 tsps baking soda
Directions
- Mix half of the flour (600 ml) with the baking soda and set aside.
- Heat water, sugar, butter, apple cider syrup, and spices in a pan on medium heat on the stove until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Then add the grated apples.
- In a large bowl, combine the butter-sugar-spice-apple mixture with the flour-baking soda mixture. Then mix in the rest of the flour in bunches. (It's helpful to use a sturdy silicone spatula for this job.) If the dough starts to get too heavy to stir, feel free to get your hands in there and knead like you would a bread dough. (Your hands will smell amazing afterward, by the way.)
- When the flour has been completely incorporated into the dough, sprinkle some flour on top, cover the bowl with plastic, and refrigerate the dough for 12 hours.
- On the day you plan to bake the cookies, pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees (F). Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper (or use silicone mats if you have them).
- Liberally flour a baking board and roll out slightly less than a quarter of the dough very thinly. Using cookie cutters, cut out shapes and fill one baking sheet.
- Working on one baking sheet at a time, bake the cookies for 7 minutes. (Feel free to try to vary the time a few minutes up or down to get the consistency you want.)
- Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer them to a cooling rack and re-use the baking sheet for another batch. You will probably end making about 100 cookies, depending on the size of the cookie cutters you are using.
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Please be sure you join us on Twitter throughout the day
during #SundaySupper. We’ll be meeting up at 7:00 pm (Eastern) for
our weekly #SundaySupper live chat where we’ll talk about our favorite apple
recipes! All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, or you can follow us through TweetChat!
We’d also love to feature your apple recipes on our #SundaySupper
Pinterest board and share them with all of our followers!
Adore the idea of apples in a gingersnap. Interesting info about apple seeds. So how do you get the type of apples you want to grow if you can't just plant the seeds?
ReplyDeleteYou have to use grafts from trees that produce the kind of fruit you want.
DeleteI use to plant my apple cores in the ground when I was a little girl believing that they would grow one day in to amazing apple trees so that is really interesting to learn. Ginger snaps are my mother-in-law's favourite cookie and her birthday is coming up, I might make up a batch for her.
ReplyDeleteOh fun, I hope she likes them!
DeleteMy husband loves ginger snap cookies. He also loves apples so I am sure he would be so happy if I made these cookies for him.
ReplyDeleteThey make a big batch, but most of them are already gone because they've been such a hit. I hope your husband enjoys them, Renee.
Deletethese are absolutely adorable! great recipe! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I was so happy that I just happened to have an apple-shaped cookie cutter in my collection. I don't use them very often, but I love cookie cutters. They are so much fun.
DeleteThese are unbelievably cute! What a great idea.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I am so glad they turned out. It was one of those out-of-the-blue, you-know-what-would-be-perfect kinds of ideas.
DeleteYou certainly enlightened my up on apple history. What a great twist on the gingersnaps! happy sunday
ReplyDeleteThanks! I am kind of an ingredient geek, where do they come from and that kind of thing.
DeleteThose are so cute my daughter would love them, and the hubby too he loves Ginger!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! If you want to kick up the ginger a notch, think about chopping some candied ginger to add to the dough as well. I bet that would be terrific too.
DeleteTora, these sound fabulous! And gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThanks! They turned out wonderfully.
DeleteI would love to try these cookies since my daughter loves apple cookies!!Love apple and ginger together :)
ReplyDeleteGinger and apple is just one of those iconic combinations, like apple and pork. So good.
DeleteThese are just darling! The flavor sounds divine. Happy #SS!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I just wish they lasted a little longer. My husband says I can't make them too often or he's going to get too big. :)
DeleteI love these cookies! Full of fall flavors!
ReplyDeleteThanks! More intense spice really does start to appeal so much more as fall arrives.
DeleteLove these, they are too cute! Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks! They were so much fun to make. Did I mention how much I love cookie cutters?
DeleteI love gingersnaps and I love apples, so these cookies will have to make it to my cookie jar!
ReplyDeleteI am so pleased. I hope you enjoy them. Let me know how they turn out.
DeleteSo cute! Love the apple cookie cutter shapes! thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I love the cookie cutters. I only wish I had some leaf shaped ones; they would be perfect right now.
DeleteGingersnaps are so delicious, and adding apple to them is so smart! I'd love to try a few of these...
ReplyDeleteI love gingersnaps, although they never last long around here. I hope you do try them and let me know what you think!
DeleteYour cookies are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
DeleteGinger cookies remind me of my childhood...and are still a favorite to this day! You've put me in the mood to crank out a batch very soon! Great #Sunday Supper dessert :)
ReplyDeleteGinger cookies feature strongly in my childhood as well. My mom made them every Christmas, and I started cutting them out at an early age. Now I have my son help cut them out.
DeleteThese are so cute. I love ginger cookies.
ReplyDeleteThank you. They are so good.
DeleteGingersnaps are definitely one of my favorite cookies when the weather gets cooler. Love how you cut them into apples for the theme!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was so excited when I realized I had an apple-shaped cookie cutter!
DeleteI'm not the baker in our family so I'm passing this one over to my wife in hopes she'll make it. If not, perhaps it's time I try to do some baking.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I hope she makes them for you (or you give it a whirl). The dough is easy to make, although the cutting takes some time.
DeleteThose little pumpkins are SO cute! I love gingersnap and have never in a million years thought of putting apple and apple cider syrup in them to make them apple-ey! What a great idea. Thank you for sharing such a great recipe!
ReplyDeleteFun! I hadn't noticed that they look like pumpkins too! That gives me the idea to try making a pumpkin gingersnap sometime soon too!
DeleteLook how pretty these are cut out into apple shapes. Love it!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I thought they were really fun too. Gone in a flash, alas.
DeleteLove these cookies - they are cute and sound amazing! Love this time of year!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! This is my favorite time of year too. I absolutely love fall. Great food, cooler air, gorgeous leaves and light.
DeleteWhat a great treat for Halloween!
ReplyDeleteGreat combination of apple and ginger! Love the shape of the cookies too!
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, what adrorable cookies!!! These look great!
ReplyDeleteLove gingersnap cookies and apple flavored ones ! yummm ! Cute apple shaped too. My kids would snap these up :)
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I love this recipe! What a wonderful idea to bring these flavors together! I have never seen a recipe like this, AND I for sure need to make it! Yum, Hugs, Terra
ReplyDeleteI love reading your informative food facts every week. I feel like I learn something new every week. mmmm apple cider syrup. I bet these gingersnaps were amazing!
ReplyDeleteOh, my husband would LOVE for me to make these. I've never made gingersnaps, but any chance my husband gets, he'll buy them premade at the grocery store. He loves them with coffee. Anyway, I think he'd be very happy if I made him these, would totally surprise him.
ReplyDeleteI love this post - the apple shape of the cookies is adorable, I'd LOVE to eat an apple gingersnap cookie (great flavour combo) and my knowledge of apples has grown 500%! Thanks for the info and for this delicious recipe.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet Fall cookies. My grandkids would love them!
ReplyDeleteI love that you cut these into shapes-so cute. I also love the combination of apples with gingersnaps!
ReplyDeletePerfect cookies for fall! Love the apple shapes!
ReplyDeleteI adore gingersnap cookies! It's one of those treats that I love to indulge in.
ReplyDeleteThese cookies are so cute and they sound delicious!
ReplyDeleteGingersnaps are so delicious, Thanks so much for sharing!
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