Oh, man, it’s been a week.
You know the type where nothing seems to go your way and every little thing becomes a frustration? There’s been a lot of muttering and cursing and stomping around. There has also been a lot of pondering whilst drinking tea and staring off into space.
Then, there were these cookies. Just a little wafer to nibble during said pondering/spacing-out/tea-drinking. The dough didn’t give me any trouble, unlike some of my other kitchen ventures this week, and it was totally down for chilling in the freezer for days before I sliced the wafers off and baked them up.
How kind, right? They were just the spice and nice I needed.
Sugar and Spice Wafers
adapted from Martha Stewart
These spice wafers are crunchy, yet dissolve quickly on the tongue. They are full of spice and while the actual dough isn’t very sweet, a sprinkling of coarse sanding sugar bumps it up and gives the wafer a lovely crust. Perfect for the season, nestled next to a cup of something hot.
3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
coarse sanding sugar for sprinkling
Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap and set aside.
In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spice. Set aside.
Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, scraping well after each addition. Mix in flour in 3 additions to combine. Press the cookie dough into the prepared loaf pan with fingertips, cover with plastic. Flatten the top by pressing the plastic covered dough down with another loaf pan. Wrap well in plastic wrap and freeze for 1 1/2 hours up to 1 month.
Preheat oven to 400F. Line baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
Remove loaf pan from the freezer and allow to defrost slightly, 5-10 minutes. Remove dough from pan and plastic and slice off wafer thinly, about 1/8 inch. Arrange slices on sheet pans about 1 inch apart and sprinkle with sanding sugar, pressing lightly into the dough. Freeze wafers on pan for about 5 minutes and bake in the center of the oven for 10-12 minutes, until dark brown and crisp. Cool completely on wire cooling racks. Repeat with remaining dough, freezing between batches.
These are pretty times infinity, and they seem like just the thing to make a week a good one. I think I need them now too…
Thanks man! and yeah, they do make things better…but they’d be even better with a mimosa I bet!
These look fantastic! Super delicious cookies, yum! 🙂
thanks Sara!
These look so cute! And I love that they mostly get their sweetness from the coarse sugar. Classssssaaaaaaayyy!!
Thanks Naomi! That coarse sugar is just so classy!
How lovely and delicate! These would definitely offer me a bit of comfort on a dreary day. Take care.
Thanks Terris 🙂
The coarse sugar granules look like gems…I would love to have tea with you someday, as long as you promise me, you’ll be serving me these treats to go with the tea. Thanks for sharing this post with the whole worldwideweb…Great recipe!
the sugar is like gems, Ana, you are so right! and if we ever had tea, I would definitely make some cookies to go with 😉
It’s chilly and rainy… I sure could use some of those cookies with tea and honey right about now!
tea and cookies always makes a dreary day brighter, thanks Erica!
I just love spicy cookies and these look fantastic! I must try this recipe 🙂
Let me know if you do Gaby 🙂
These look like kickass graham crackers
ooh, now I wanna make grahams!
Sorry to hear about the crummy week – hope this one is better. These cookies look like the perfect accompaniment to tea time 🙂
Oh, thanks Kasey! I just needed a little whine with my cookies 😉