Day 6: Dutch Spice Cookies

One of my favorite baked goods this time of year is Dutch Spice Cookies.  We only seem to make them at Christmas time and I haven't made them in years.  They are similar to a ginger snap, but have cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves that give them their spiciness and their deep brown color.  (They are really good dipped in your morning coffee.)  Here is my recipe for this fragrant and tasty treat. 

Dutch Spice Cookies (makes about 2 to 3 dozen)

Ingredients
3/4 Cup Butter (1 1/2 sticks) at room temperature
1 Cup Firmly Packed Dark Brown Sugar
1 Egg
2 Tablespoons Milk (I used Unsweetened Soy Milk)
1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

 
1. Combine flour, baking powder and spices in a bowl and set aside

2. Cream together the Sugar and the butter.  If you have a mixer this is super easy, but if you don't, like me, cut the butter up into smaller pieces and let them soften a bit over low heat, but not melt.Remove from heat add the sugar and cream butter together with a spatula. (This is a great arm exerciser by the way.)

3.  Add in the egg and milk to the butter and sugar mixture, beat till smooth.
4. Slowly add in the flour and spice mixture folding it into the butter and sugary a little bit at a time. 
 Once the dough has been made cover it and place it in the fridge for about 1 hour.

After an hour or when the dough is firm, preheat the oven to 300 degrees and remove the dough from the fridge and roll the dough into 1 inch balls.  I like to roll mine in a bit of regular sugar so that after they have baked they have a pretty sparkle to them. 

 Place on a cookie sheet and either flatten the dough balls with a cookie press or a fork. 

Bake for about 8 to 10 minuets.  If you want a soft center back for 8min if you want your cookies to be crispy bake for longer.  I like mine crispy for coffee dipping.

Let cookies cool and enjoy!