Gingernuts, … but what? No Nuts?

(photo © kiwidutch)

My last post about Kookie Kutter’s Ginger Snaps immediately brings to mind another recipe from the family cookbooks that I inherited from my Mother and my Grandmother.

I’m sure that everyone has a moment when the whiff of a certain smell instantly transports them back to a time in the past, when a happy memories  floods  back, and you are reminded of laughter and faces of those present  and a precise moment in time. Some of my earliest kitchen moments took place in the kitchen of my New Zealand Grandma.

Not only were these some of my earliest moments, but also some of my happiest… Gran was a cheerful soul, with a warm smile and a friendly wag of the egg beater if she saw a kid finger  dripping with cake batter edging  towards a little mouth with our best childish stealth ( yeah right, steath.. there was none LOL)

Gran’s kitchen was her little room of paradise, she adored baking slices, bars, biscuits/cookies and cakes, and to me at least she also seemed to delight in having children in her kitchen, her enthusiasm was contagious and I honestly can’t remember her ever getting cross at anything I ever attempted in her kitchen.  She was my principle kitchen  inspiration  and the love of cooking that she imparted to me has infected and influenced me more than she could ever have known.

I can almost smell these baking when I close my eyes and think of Gran.  This is truly a  “memory” recipe as well as a yummy treat.
If you make these into very little balls, about the size of an over-sized marble or a gob-stopper then you will get the cookies as shown in my photograph, and the centers will be ever so slightly chewy.

These are traditionally a very hard crisp biscuit (cookie) made for dunking into tea or coffee, and the bigger you make the balls the crunchier the end result. Yes, yes I know that  they are called Gingernuts, and no, it’s correct:  not in the homemade version or the commercial ones are there any nuts! Do I know why? Sorry, that one’s a mystery to me too.

Usually I store these in an airtight container to keep them crisp, but if you made some of these crunchier and you want them REALLY chewy after all, just leave some out of the container for a while and hey presto… divine which ever way you prefer them.

Some people like a very strong ginger taste of the Gingernuts commercially available in New Zealand Shops, if you do too then feel free in increase the amount of ground ginger by another teaspoon or to your taste.

(photo © kiwidutch)

Ingredients:

200 g butter (7 oz)
1 cup sugar
1 cup golden syrup
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger (heaped)
1 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

1. Pre heat oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Cream the butter and the sugar.
3. Add the golden syrup and the dry ingredients.
4. Mix everything together and roll into little balls.
5. Put onto a greased baking tray, pressing the balls down very slightly with a fork.
6. Bake at 350°F and 180°C for 15 minutes.
7. Cool on a wire rack and keep in an airtight container once cold.

If you make these and enjoy them as much as we do… say a little Thank-You not to me,  but to my very fondly remembered  Gran, a very  very special lady.  This is a firm family favourite in my “stock” of special recipes, a heritage recipe that is getting passed though our  family. My Gran would be pleased as punch if  you decided to make her recipe yours as well…