Gingersnap Cookie Spoons
I’ve been haunted by the idea of edible spoons for years, and when my mom actually found me a tiny spoon cookie cutter a year or two ago, the feeling only intensified. But I had never actually gotten around to make them. So it was the first idea I pitched for snacks at the Calligraphy Craft Night for Oh Happy Day.
After a few less-than-successful attempts, I learned that crisp, sturdy cookies are the key to functional spoons, and tweaked my recipe accordingly. The most difficult part was switching from butter to shortening, which goes against everything I believe. But in this case it helps keep your cookies from spreading in the oven.
Find the full rundown and pictures over at Oh Happy Day!
I had to bend my cookie cutter to get the shape I actually wanted. The end result was a spoon about 3 1/2 inches in length.
Don’t worry if you can’t find a spoon cookie cutter, you can always make custom cookie shapes by making a template of cardboard or thick paper. Just draw or print out your design and cut it out. Place the template on your dough, and cut around it with a small, sharp knife.
Serve with these adorable Key Lime Pot de Creme, or lemon sorbet.
Gingersnap Cookie Spoons
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- about 1 tablespoon water
Preheat oven to 350.
Blend together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
In a mixer, combine shortening and brown sugar. Add half flour mixture and combine, then molasses, then remaining flour mixture. Dough may be dry and crumbly. Add water a tiny bit at a time, until dough comes together.
Roll out dough between two sheets of parchment as thinly as possible- about 1/16″. Cut out shapes and carefully transfer to cookie sheet lined with silicone baking mat or parchment. Stick the dough in the freezer for a few minutes if it is too soft to transfer without distorting the shapes.
Bake in oven about 8-10 minutes, keeping a close watch. Cookies will need to be firm to the touch coming out of the oven and browning around the edges in order to cool to a crisp cookie, but watch carefully for burning!
Allow to cool. You can store cookies in an airtight container for about a week.
