Double-ginger Sugar Cookies (or Hazelnut Nutella Or Thumbprints)

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Recipe

• 1 in a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the crystallized and ground ginger, baking soda and salt. using a mixer, beat the butter with the sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. beat in the egg yolk and vanilla, scraping the side and bottom of the bowl. beat in the dry ingredients at medium-low speed. refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes.
• 2 preheat the oven to 350 degrees. position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. on a lightly floured surface, roll out half at a time of the dough to 1/8" thickness. using a 2" biscuit cutter, stamp out ronds as close together as possible. arrange the rounds on large baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. gather the scraps and reroll, cutting out more cookies.
• 3 bake the cookies in batches for about 20 minutes, until golden; shift the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. let the cookies cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
• 4 for hazelnut-nutella sandwich cookies: in a food processor, finely grind 2/3 cup roasted and salted hazelnuts. replace both gingers with the ground nuts. sandwich the cookies with nutella or another chocolate spread.
• 5 for coconut-raspberry thumbprints: replace both gingers with 3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut. roll the dough into 1" balls and bake for 14 minutes. then make a dent in the cookies and fill with raspberry jam (or any jam of your choice - muscadine is great too!). bake for about 10 more minutes.
• 6 for cocoa nib-chocolate chip cookies: finely chop two 3-ounce milk chocolate bars with cocoa nibs. replace both gingers with the chopped chocolate and nibs, folding them in after beating in the dry ingredients.
• 7 make ahead: the cookie dough can be wrapped in plastic and aluminum foil and refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month. thaw in the refrigerator before using. the baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week or wrapped in plastic and foil and frozen for up to 1 month.