Gingerbread White Chocolate Blondies

I was looking through one of the cookbooks that I got for Christmas to look for this week’s cookie recipe. I marked a couple of different cookies and then had one of my colleagues choose which ones to bake. She picked these gingerbread white chocolate blondies. I guess gingerbread is a little Christmas-y, but I love ginger and I was happy to give these a try.

Unlike most bar cookies that are made in a 9 x 13 inch pan or even a 9 inch square pan, these are made in a half sheet pan, 12 x 17 inches. Luckily, I had gotten a half sheet pan for Christmas. My regular cookies sheets were just a tad short of the half sheet size, and I’m sure that they would have worked had I not had this new pan. The dough came together with no problem, although there was a lot of it! Instead of trying to spread the batter, I moistened my hands a bit and pressed the dough into pan. It’s a big pan so I had to make sure that I got the batter spread all the way to the edges.

I baked them for 25 minutes, and I probably should have taken them out of the oven a minute or two sooner as they were quite browned on the edges. I let them cool for about 45 minutes and they were cool enough to remove from the pan. Since the pan was lined with parchment, I was able to completely remove them from the pan completely and cut them on a cutting board. They were still a touch warm but they cut so easily! I tasted the over-browned edges and they were really fabulous. But then again, I love anything with ginger!

2-3/4 cups plus one tablespoon flour

1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/4 teaspoons salt

1-1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon cloves

1-1/4 cups butter, softened

1-1/4 cups packed brown sugar

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs plus one egg yolk

1-1/4 teaspoons vanilla

1/3 cup molasses

10 ounces white chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 x 17 inch rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment and spray the parchment with nonstick spray.

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes, until creamy and pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the side of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and the molasses and stir until combined. Add the flour mixture and stir on low speed until combined. Stir in the white chocolate.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake until golden on edges, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely until cutting into squares.

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookies