2drops Sweet Orange essential oilor orange zest to taste
few pinches ground cloves
* This amount of icing makes enough to fully cover the cookies. If you're just drizzlingyou could probably reduce the amounts by half
Instructions
Instructions for the Cookies
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, and molasses.
Add eggs, vanilla, and ginger paste, and whisk to mix.
In a separate bowl, stir together the remaining dry ingredients, then gently stir into the wet mixture until well incorporated.
Using clean hands, roll dough into balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheets (12 balls per sheet).
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the surface is firm and just begins to crack. Cool completely before icing.
Instructions for the Icing
Once cookies are completely cooled, transfer them to wax paper for icing. Dip the cookies upside down into the bowl of icing, or use a pastry brush to coat each cookie with a thin layer of icing (I prefer the brush).
Try to use just enough icing to coat the cookie without too much extra collecting on the wax paper.
Allow icing to harden completely before transferring to storage container.
Notes
This recipe makes about 2 dozen standard size cookies or 4-5 dozen bite-size cookies.
If you don't have orange essential oil you can use orange zest or a small squeeze of fresh orange juice
The cookies will store well in an airtight container for up to 1 week and possibly longer without icing
These cookies can be frozen without icing, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, foil, and store in an airtight container
Keep the cookies in balls for a round and high cookies or flatten them slightly before baking for a flat shape
The amount of icing is to completely cover the cookies if you'd rather just drizzle the icing over you can half the amount
Make sure the cookies are completely cooled before icing