Orange-Ginger-Maple Cookies

Who else needs more cookies in their life? I’m assuming you raised your hand because why wouldn’t you? Fall baking is in full swing, and there isn’t anything more relaxing than spending a lazy weekend afternoon baking a batch of fall-inspired cookies. In particular, I’m in love with these orange-ginger-maple cookies and insist this is the perfect fall cookie.

Calling this recipe the perfect fall cookie may sound like a tall order. After all, there are so many delicious fall cookies out there, but I stand by the assertion. In fact, I’ve already baked two batches in the past month. Considering how many fall recipes are on my list to bake before Thanksgiving, that’s saying something.

And, really, how can you not fall in love with these cookies? With the dark brown sugar and rich maple flavor, these cookies are perfectly cozy and will make you want to curl up on the couch with a little Netflix and a warm fire. Two kinds of ginger offer a slightly spicy kick while fresh orange peel counters the rich, warm flavors with a pop of brightness.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the perfect texture of these cookies. To me, homemade cookies should be soft, chewy and moist, which is exactly what these orange-ginger-maple cookies are. If I want hard, crunchy cookies, I can buy a bag of Chips Ahoy and call it a day. That’s just not the texture I want in my homemade cookies. When you bite into these orange-ginger-maple cookies, the top is soft and pillowy while the bottom is caramelized just enough to give a chewy finish. See? Everything about that texture is perfect.

Tangent 1: I should also note that these cookies are delicious year-round, and they often appear on my holiday cookie list. But I especially love them in the fall. So if you stumble upon this post later in the year, go ahead and proceed if you like delicious cookies.

Tangent 2: If you’re looking for a fun October Netflix binge as you sit down with a plate of cozy cookies, I’m really enjoying “The Haunting of Hill House,” So far, it’s super creepy and will have you feeling the Halloween spirit in no time.

How to Make Orange-Ginger-Maple Cookies

Let’s get to it, shall we? To start, we mix together flour, baking soda, salt and ground ginger. Easy enough. Once we prepare the dry ingredients, I like to go ahead and grate the fresh ginger and orange peel. I highly recommend using a microplane grater for both. This handy little tool makes the process efficient, and I much prefer the zest I get from a microplane grater as opposed to a zester. If you don’t have one, I promise you’ll love it and included a link for it below. I use this tool weekly, and it’s well-worth the small investment.

When grating fresh ginger, I find it’s much easier if you freeze the ginger first. Otherwise, it can get stringy and difficult to handle. You can peel the ginger using the side a spoon and then keep the ginger in the freezer, so you always have fresh ginger on hand. Not a bad bonus.

Using a hand or stand mixer, we now beat softened butter, white sugar, dark brown sugar, ginger, orange peel, vanilla extract and maple extract together until they’re fluffy. On my Kitchenaid, I find speed four for four minutes is perfect. For the butter, you want it soft enough that it’ll leave finger indentions if you press into it, but your fingers also won’t slide through and cut the butter in half. From here, we beat in the eggs, add the dry ingredients and stir in the white chocolate chips. No judgment here if you sneak a bite or two of cookie dough. That’s the best part, right?

Why Should I Chill Cookie Dough?

Now that our cookie dough is mixed, I like to chill it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Chilling the dough solidifies the butter, which prevents overspreading. Plus, chilled dough has a chewier texture and more concentrated flavor because the sugar has a chance to absorb some liquid. That said, if you’re in a hurry, you can bake the cookies right away, but I truly think it’s worth allowing the dough to chill if you have 30 minutes to spare.

When forming the cooking dough, I like to make them into golf-ball size drops of dough, which is a little bigger than most cookie recipes specify. However, I find baking the cookies on the larger side helps keep them extra soft.

We now pop the cookies into the oven and bake for no more than nine minutes. The cookies might look underbaked at this point, but that’s what we want. That underbaked look also ensures we get perfectly soft cookies, and they’ll solidify as they cool. Just go with me on this one.

Now dig into your big batch of freshly baked cookies that will give you all the fall vibes. Bonus points for enjoying while still warm from the oven.

Perfect Pairing

During the fall and winter months, Belgian-style ales pair well with so many seasonal foods, and these orange-ginger-maple cookies are no exception. Specifically, I love a Belgian strong dark ale with these cookies. In fact, last holiday season, I posted a cookie and beer pairing for the seven days leading up to Christmas on Instagram. These cookies made an appearance on the list with Delirium Noël, a Belgian strong dark ale, as the beer pairing of choice.

Although Delirium Noël is specifically brewed for the holiday season, those beers usually start making appearances on the shelves around October. I would be surprised if you can’t get that beer by now. If you can’t find Delirium Noël, any other Belgian dark strong ale should work well.

Belgian dark strong ales typically come with a slightly spicy yeast profile, which melds well with the ginger. We also get lots of dark fruit undertones that are the perfect match for the maple and dark brown sugar. This beer style is also high in alcohol, giving it some residual sweetness that makes it great with desserts.

For a wine pairing, let’s go with a muscat, which is a sweet fortified wine. With spicy desserts, muscats work well because the sweetness offers a nice contrast. Muscat also shows off raisin, toffee and fig flavors — all of which pair nicely with the flavors in these cookies.

When the baking bug bites you, I hope you whip up a batch of these orange-ginger-maple cookies. They’re always a hit, and I’m sure you’ll love them as well. Please leave me a comment to let me know how you enjoyed them and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter.

Cheers!

Looking for More Fall Desserts? Burrata and Bubbles Has you Covered.

• Bourbon-pumpkin ice cream
• Apple spice cupcakes with praline filling and brown sugar frosting
• 12 best pumpkin desserts 

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• Microplane Zester Grater made in USA stainless steel blade for zesting citrus and grating cheese – plastic handle – black

Orange-Ginger-Maple Cookies

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★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

• Author: Amanda McGrory-Dixon
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 9 minutes
• Total Time: 34 minutes
• Yield: About 30-32 cookies 1x

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Description

These orange-ginger-maple cookies are the perfect fall dessert. Full of warm spice and rich flavors, everyone falls in love with these cookies.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon orange peel, grated
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
1 teaspoon maple extract
2 eggs
1 12-ounce bag white chocolate chips

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Instructions

1. In a small bowl, stir together flour, ground ginger, baking soda and salt until well mixed.
2. Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together butter, sugars, orange peel, fresh ginger and extracts until fluffy. If needed, periodically scrap the edge of the bowl. 
3. Again, scrap the edge of the bowl and add one egg. Beat until it’s well combined. Repeat with the second egg.  
4. Add a spoonful or two of the flour mixture and beat until it’s incorporated. Repeat until you mix in all of the flour. Stir in the white chocolate chips and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
5. As the dough refrigerates, heat the oven to 375 degrees.
6. Form the dough into golf ball-size balls and drop onto an ungreased parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for nine minutes. The dough might look underbaked, but that’s OK. This leaves the cookies soft, and they solidify as they cool. 
7. Allow the cookies to cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before moving to wire baking racks to finish cooling. Once cooled, store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

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• Category: Desserts
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: cookies, maple cookies, ginger cookies, orange cookies