Crystallized Ginger Spice White Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These cookies are the ultimate combination of spicy, warm, soft, and chewy cookies. I’m not even a huge fan of white chocolate, but it paired well in this recipe. I and friends could not get enough of them. The smell entices you into that first bite, followed by the polishing off of about 5 more cookies. I wanted to create my own holiday cookie, I thought of spices- ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and of course some sort of chocolate was needed. I decided to attempt at a healthier version of the ever-so-loved ginger spice cookies and make it my own.

I used coconut oil in place of butter. Instead of traditional brown sugar, I chose coconut palm sugar. Palm sugar is made from the nectar of the coconut palm tree. The cookies did not taste like coconut in anyway whatsoever from the coconut oil or coconut palm sugar. Palm sugar actually adds a caramel flavor to your bakings. It’s another ingredient in these cookies that really make it exceptional. The crystallized ginger on top gives you that sweet and spicy ginger bite to overload your taste buds with pleasure.

Click here for my official recipe page on ABC’s daytime show, The Chew. I was 1 out of 5 contestants chosen out of over 700 recipe submissions for these cookies!! I was flown to NY for free and was featured on TV! It was an incredible experience and I’m only 20 years old. Hopefully the future holds just as good experiences, if not better in store…

Ingredients:

1 cup WW pastry flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup coconut oil

3/4 cup coconut palm sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup white chocolate chips

crystallized ginger (for garnish)

Start off with combining the coconut oil and sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix until smooth and add in egg and molasses. In a separate bowl, take the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices and mix until thoroughly combined. Add the dry mixture to the wet and blend well. Add chocolate chips and refrigerate dough overnight if you have the time. If not, simply an hour will be ok.

Once dough is out of fridge*, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and roll the dough into balls. Cut small pieces of crystallized ginger and place them on each cookie to taste. I found the more the merrier.

Bake cookies for 7-10 minutes, when edges are crisp and insides still soft. Let sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Tips: I found the first batch to be a tad overcooked, cooked for 10 minutes and were slightly flattened before entering the oven.  The second batch turned out perfect when rolled into complete balls. At first they seemed a little undercooked, but I let it rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes which cooked it to ultimate texture.

If you think that they taste amazing out of the oven, just wait until you try them once cooled. They become chewy, and spicy.

*Note: The coconut oil solidifies in cold temperatures so let the dough sit out for a bit from the fridge since it’ll be hard, or just start breaking the dough up and it’ll start to become softer for you to mold.

Now I gotta say how awesome mi amiga Lexi is for letting me borrow her amazing camera. My flash decided to unexpectedly break and therefore my DSLR was lonely and could not continue taking pictures without it. Not to mention her kitty, Tyson, is handsome…