Lemon-Ginger Cookies with Mint

Debra Satterthwaite of Carmel, Indiana, put a twist on a classic sugar-cookie recipe with the addition of lemon zest, ginger, and fresh mint.

Prep: 30 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Yield: Makes 36

Photography: Marcus Nilsson

Source: Everyday Food, October 2011

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves (about 20 large), finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger (about 1 ounce)
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg yolk, room temperature
1/4 cup coarse sugar, for rolling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, mint, ginger, lemon zest, and baking soda. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, granulated and brown sugars, vanilla, and egg yolk on medium until fluffy, about 8 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat just until combined.
Place coarse sugar in a small bowl. Roll rounded teaspoons of dough into balls and gently roll in sugar to coat. Place, 2 inches apart, on two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets. Bake until edges are slightly brown, 14 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

Cook's Notes

Use these for ice cream sandwiches, suggests Satterthwaite: "Spoon some softened vanilla ice cream onto a cookie, press another cookie on top, and scrape away any excess."

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MS11913996

3 NOV, 2014

This is one of my favorite cookies. It always turns out beautifully: it looks pretty, tastes divine, and usually has guests asking for the recipe. I use King Arthur Flour's crystalized Ginger Mini Chips and add a smidge more than called for in the recipe. I love that the taster can recognize all three flavors, yet together they just sing! I try to have some in the freezer for unexpected guests or just to defrost and enjoy with an afternoon coffee or herbal tea for myself.
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BRNTerri

12 DEC, 2013

These have that *distinctive* sugar cookie flavor on the outside where the cookies browned. I'm so pleased about that. I omitted ginger & mint. I used lemon extract (1/2 t.) instead of zest. I used more white sugar than brown and cookies were too sweet so I'll cut back next time. I used a 1 1/2" cookies scoop (#50/1 T.) and got 19. I baked them on 350 for 11 minutes. They look much better than the photo. Dough balls spread out nicely, were pretty flat with crackle tops. Heavy butter flavor. A-
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hdelauro

29 APR, 2013

I truly enjoyed this what I call 'cocktail cookie.' The flavors were very subtle, but you could distinguish them all. I also thought that the teaspoon size would be too small, so I made 1/2 teaspoon size and 1/2 ~Tablespoon size and the recommended TEAspoon size is perfect for such a light, delicate, adult-like cookie. My husband and I don't have much of a sweet-tooth, but one or two of these refreshing cookies took the edge off for the need of something sweet. Thank you!
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Leah49

12 APR, 2013

Hi Sarah - you always ask us to write and tell you what we think so I finally figured out how to post a comment by going to the recipe page (instead of the video page!). I LOVE this cookie recipe (ginger, mint) and my kitchen is full of "waftability" with the fresh smell of mint and I am also making the Tabbouleh salad one from the other day but using Quinoa instead and the pile of parsley that I have smells so good! Thank you for all your videos - I have now made about 35 of your recipes!
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MS12437175

12 APR, 2013

Can' wait to try this recipe and am really enjoying receiving Sarah's videos each day. BTW, the comments link on the page does not work, in case you were wondering why you aren't getting comments.
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hlindamood

9 MAY, 2012

DO NOT bake these cookies for the full 14 minutes recommended in the recipe! I even made my cookies larger than the tsp size in the recipe and they burned at 14 minutes. I would start checking the cookies at 10 minutes. The recipe does not make very much dough. I made TB-size balls and it yielded 26 cookies. The did taste good, although not very lemony.
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