I’m a little exhausted writing this on a dreary, rainy Monday. My spirits are high, though, with another successful week at the cafe behind us. It was slow this week – mostly because of spring break, bad weather, and high gas prices. But we had some fantastic interactions with returning guests and made some new connections through food. This week in the bakery I served my orange ginger cookies. As usual, a cookie made with brown butter. 

Orange Ginger Cookies

On Monday I was incredibly tired. I’m not sure why – other than the fact that I worked hard on Sunday. And that the time changed. I told my dad that I felt jet lagged, weirdly, despite not moving anywhere. So I spent the day writing, relaxing, watching TV, and making art. When I went to bed I stayed up late painting and slept in the next day. The rest of the week was filled with prep for the restaurant. Including making my favorite latke hash browns, muffins, cinnamon rolls, breaded chicken, and brown butter cookie doughs. 

I felt inspired to make a new cookie flavor. Cookies are one of my favorite things in life. Something I’ll always reach for at a bakery or restaurant if I don’t know what to get for dessert. Reliable, portable, and delicious. I was trying to think of new flavor combinations, too, rather than just a new combination of good old chocolate and brown butter. I of course decided to still use brown butter, because I can’t help myself, but I wanted to make them lighter and citrusy. So I made orange ginger cookies with fresh ginger for tang and orange zest for fruity flavor. 

Brown Butter Cookie Dough

I started with making brown butter. It’s so easy to make cookies this way and it really helps add so much flavor and depth. I let it rest while I measured the other ingredients. Brown sugar. White sugar. I massaged orange zest into both. And I added sea salt for contrast. Eggs, dry ingredients. Fresh ginger along with ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and a little nutmeg. Who cares if it’s March? I wanted to impart my orange ginger cookies with that fall flavor palate. I really loved the scent of the batter and the rich, thick texture.

My goal with cookies is always to make something chewy, a little bit fudgey, and packed with flavor. I imagined these tasting almost like a great cup of tea with fresh ginger, orange, and honey. I added honey, too, after reading about its properties that help baked goods stay fresh. It essentially helps keep that soft, chewy texture when we keep cookies on the counter at Nomad. I also love to put honey in my tea, so it was a win-win. When I was ready I scooped my dough into even balls and rounded them in my hands.

Potato Bread + Cafe Prep

It rested them in the fridge for a couple days to develop flavor while I worked on other things. It was a bit of a heavy prep week, but I decided to space out my work an extra day to give myself more wiggle room. After a quick trip to the grocery store in the morning on Tuesday I felt so ready to go. I stocked up on flour, eggs, butter, and even added some things to my list in case I had time. More fresh biscuits. A homemade melted chocolate mix to freeze and break up for chocolate chunk cookies. I learned a lot about bread making, too, and decided to turn my new potato bun dough into a bread loaf.

I added scallions, too, which I had leftover from another recipe. There’s not many flavor combinations I love more than potatoes with butter, bacon, scallions, and cheese, so I knew this bread would be amazing for breakfast sandwiches. I made my usual dough and proofed it in a loaf pan instead of shaping buns. I also made my beloved sourdough focaccia after a couple days of feeding the starter and making sourdough discard tortillas. They make great quesadillas. I topped the sourdough with eggs, bacon, scallions, sour cream, and hash browns. I was so excited to bake it, and to eat it.

Troubleshooting Cookie Baking

On Friday I baked my orange ginger cookies. I started with little sleep, after a long prep week. So my instincts weren’t really at full power. I didn’t remember to thaw the cookies before baking them. So they went straight from the cold to the baking sheet. I preheated the oven to 350 and popped them in when the oven dinged. I also made orange sugar by massaging more orange zest into white sugar – I rolled my cookie balls in it. 

They spread quickly, but had big humps in the center. I kept a close eye on them, but hoped they’d be a success. I took them out after 15 minutes. Which is unusual for cookies. The edges were dark golden brown and ripply but the centers still looked raw. I wasn’t sure what to do. So I took them out and let them rest while I moved to my bread-making. I tried one, too, which was super delicious. But too underbaked in the center. The edges were perfect. So I decided to bake them again, at a slightly lower temperature, to finish the centers.

Orange Zest + Orange Sugar

This time I forgot they were in the oven and sprang awake from a quick relaxation session in bed to rescue them. Fortunately the edges didn’t overbake. The centers were done and looked golden and ripply. The only problem was that you could see the circle of now cooked dough that didn’t melt into the rest of the cookie. I struggle a lot with perfectionism. Especially now that I’m serving people at my restaurant. So I considered remaking the cookies after learning from my mistakes. Instead I decided to forge ahead and simply sprinkle orange zest on top.

These cookies are slightly more savory than most, so adding more citrus and sugar on top helped a lot to balance the flavors. I tasted one of my orange ginger cookies the next day when we were slow. It first hit me with a zing of ginger, which I love so much. Ginger is up there with my favorite flavors in baked goods. Then I tasted the undertones of vanilla, brown butter, and orange zest. They had a nice orange aftertaste from the orange zest on top. The orange sugar baked on the outside too into a great crunchy constellation. I achieved the texture I wanted – flat, ripply, chewy cookies.

Another Weekend at Nomad

We had a great time at Nomad this weekend and caught up on some extra work while it was slow. I spent some time getting to know the airport staff on Saturday who were so encouraging, excited, and supportive. We actually swapped baked goods – brown butter cinnamon rolls for poppy seed cake. The baker used to run a candy and chocolate shop and gave me some great ideas. Two of them came to the cafe and tried chowder, my new potato bread (which they loved) and our new signature breakfast sandwich on said bread. With soft scrambled eggs, cheese, bacon, and a hash brown. 

I tried a breakfast sandwich too and completely loved it! I finally feel like after weeks of ideas and testing that I found the perfect combination. Soft yet grill-able white bread with brown butter, scallions, and potato that pairs perfectly with soft eggs, cheese, and bacon. The hash brown adds so much crunch and flavor, too. The only thing I want to add is a spicy mayo on the side. Maybe with a little ketchup. The more I discover my favorite dishes and develop new things, paired with my favorite recipes I’ve developed over the years, the more confidence I get. It’s so exciting to finally be in a position in my life to directly share my food with people.

Catching Up On Sleep + Cooking

We had a couple return from a few weeks ago who came back for our hand pies! It was so gratifying. The husband bought a breakfast plate which I happily added caramelized onions and cheese to, at his request, along with the most gorgeous looking hash browns, potato toast, and blueberry sausage. I was so proud to serve it to him. His wife got her favorite ham + cheese hand pie and loved it yet again. We talked before they left and I got so much encouragement and positivity. They bought a brown butter cinnamon roll to go, too.

I’m so excited to keep going. To fully see through this passion I’ve harnessed for so long and to see where it takes me. It’s so wonderful to have more community, too, by getting to connect with people over food. To see regulars starting to come back is exciting. I’m getting ideas all the time and have so many events, dinner themes, and pastries in the works. We’re just getting started! I’ll be resting for the remainder of the day. Trying to catch up on sleep and energy. And I’ll be prepping for this weekend soon. I’ll be making my tiramisu again!

Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoy my recipes and paintings, be sure to check out my Etsy for 100’s of recipe greeting cards and art prints. Use code THEFORKEDRING for 25% off. Until next time!

Print Pin

Orange Ginger Cookies

Ginger and orange-infused brown butter cookies rolled in orange sugar

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cookies, ginger, orange

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Author theforkedring

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp fresh ginger
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 5 tbsp orange zest
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 1/2 cup AP Flour
• 1/2 cup bread flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium high heat until golden and browned. Remove from heat.
• Add heavy cream, vanilla extract, and fresh ginger and stir to combine.
• Measure your brown sugar and 2/3 cup white sugar into a medium bowl and add 3 tbsp orange zest. Massage zest into sugars until fully combined.
• Once your brown butter mix has come to room temperature, add your sugars and stir to combine.
• Add your eggs, one at a time, and stir to combine.
• Measure flour, bread flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, and ground cinnamon into a large bowl.
• Add your dry ingredients to the butter/egg mixture and work into a dough with a spatula.
• Scoop into 10 equal balls using an ice cream scoop or melon baller. Chill in the fridge until slightly firm, about 10 minutes.
• Measure another 1/2 cup of white sugar into a separate bowl. Add 2 tbsp orange zest and massage into the sugar.
• Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll each cookie dough ball in the orange sugar and place on baking sheets, spaced 2-3 inches apart with 4-5 total on each pan.
• Bake for 12-17 minutes until the cookies are flat, golden, and the middles are fully cooked.
• Top with more orange zest and powdered sugar if you like your cookies on the sweet side.

Notes

• You can use lemon in place of orange if you want!
• Your cookies should spread and flatten nicely. If they dough is too cold, the inner part of each cookie might take too long to bake. If you want to refrigerate and bake the next day, thaw the dough for 30-60 minutes before baking and bang the pan lightly on your counter halfway through baking to flatten. 
• If you have extra orange sugar after rolling the dough balls, save and sprinkle over the cookies halfway through baking for an added crunch.