Last night I made a batch of Ginger Sandwich Cookies from a Food & Wine recipe. I certainly love the thought of a gingersnap paired with lemon cream; however, I definitely had a few problems while baking them.
First, let me say that I am my own worst critic when it comes to anything and everything in the kitchen and beyond. Having said that, these cookies look and taste just fine. But, I do want to mention that every time I bake, there are many factors that can affect the outcome of my product. A few examples include the temperature of ingredients, humidity, the color of my pans, and oven issues like hot spots. And, of course, even though I've baked a bazillion times, I still might measure something wrong or, god forbid, over cream the butter and sugar. So, mistakes can also factor in to how baked goods turn out. It's also worth mentioning that there are many sub par recipes floating around out there; so, sometimes, you have to repeat a recipe a few times to see if any adjustments might be necessary.
In addition to following recipe instructions, it's always good to use sensory clues, too, while baking. Taste the dough or batter to see if something might be off. Look at the texture and color before and while baking. Make a note if things aren't browning evenly or if your oven is starting to give you some grief. I know I am not going in to a ton of detail, here, but you get the picture.
I am in a new kitchen working in a new oven and, frankly, this oven runs hot and browns things very quickly. So, I've been learning to make time and temperature adjustments as needed as I go along. This was definitely the case last night with these lovely gingersnaps. A 20 minute bake time was way too long for this oven! And, I didn't put the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds, as the recipe called for. This could have also been a factor!
This post is really just me reminding myself to think mindfully about the recipes I use and create based on my knowledge and experience, as well as to continue using my intuition in the kitchen. I'm sure you'll do the same!
Cookie Notes: I do like these cookies; however, after tasting them, decided I didn't really like the lemon cream all that much. This is only because I am not a huge fan of the taste of powdered sugar! It's just too sweet for me. I am sure other folks would like them just fine, though. I will say that the cookies without the cream would be GREAT for ice cream sandwiches. If you can bake them a tad longer without browning them too much (or burning them in my case), they will have a hard snap. If you take them out a bit earlier, they will be soft and chewy. Either way, they'd be great with ice cream.
I also chilled the dough for 30 minutes or so before baking because it was pretty warm and humid in my kitchen. The dough seemed too warm to me.
Cookies:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
Filling:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Heat oven to 350 F. Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cookies: In a bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and molasses. Add dry ingredients and beat on low until combined. Scrape down bowl.
Drop scant tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets 3 inches apart. Bake for roughly 20 minutes. They will rise and then fall. Make sure you rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let them cool a bit and then transfer the parchment paper to racks to cool completely.
Filling: Beat butter and confectioner's sugar on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in lemon juice.
Arrange cookies in pairs. Spoon or pipe about 1 tablespoon of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie. Sandwich with the remaining cookies and press together so the filling will spread to the edge.
Should make 20 3-inch cookies.

