Snap, Crackle, and Crunch: Making Perfect Crunchy Gingersnaps and Gingernuts

These INCREDIBLE gingersnaps or gingernut cookies are the most popular cookie in this household! Using ground ginger, fresh ginger and diced crystallised ginger these gloriously crunchy gingersnaps are so moreish. This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader!

In North America these cookies are usually called gingersnaps but in Australia and New Zealand they are called ginger nuts. I cannot tell you how delicious these ginger cookies are so I'm just going to sort of beg you to make them. If you love store bought gingersnaps or gingernuts biscuits you will absolutely go crazy for these. They have the perfect combination of warm spices in them with a satisfying crunch. And the recipe below gives you tips on how to make crunchy gingersnaps just by changing some key ingredients!

In North America these cookies are usually called gingersnaps but in Australia and New Zealand they are called ginger nuts. I cannot tell you how delicious these ginger cookies are so I'm just going to sort of beg you to make them. If you love store bought gingersnaps or gingernuts you will absolutely go crazy for these. They have the perfect combination of warm spices in them with a satisfying crunch. And the recipe below gives you tips on how to make crunchy gingersnaps just by changing some key ingredients!

Tips for Making Perfect Crunchy Gingersnap Cookies

1 -Use vegetable fat or coconut oil rather than butter. Butter has a higher water content than oil so it produces chewier cookies. You don't end up tasting much of the coconut oil because of the other flavours in these cookies.

2 - Use egg whites rather than whole eggs or egg yolks. Egg yolks are high in fat and make a cookie chewy while egg whites help to make crunchy or crisp cookies.

3 - Use white caster or superfine sugar rather than brown sugar to make crunchy cookies. Again the moistness of brown sugar creates chewier cookies.

4 - You can use molasses or treacle (or golden syrup) in these gingersnaps

5 -I like baking cookies one tray at a time just to ensure even baking.

6- To keep your cookies the same size use a spring action ice cream scoop. I have a small one that scoops around 38grams/1.3ozs of cookie batter.

While Mr NQN isn't much of a cookie eater, he loved these gingersnaps so much and devoured two freshly baked ones. When I packed up a box of them for him to take to his work colleagues he protested that he could just eat them at home instead. The next day I dropped him off at the train station with the cookies and then did some work and went off to a tourism cocktail party in Mosman. It was at a beautiful house right on the waterfront and the food was delicious and prepared by a talented Michelin starred chef.

Although this was a networking media event where you are supposed to meet new people, most people tend to stick to groups of people that they know and huddle amongst themselves and it can be a bit cliquey. Apart from a lot of people from that country there were a group of smartly dressed older Italian men. They seemed slightly different - for starters they were very friendly and chatty introducing themselves to everyone rather than staying huddled in their own group. They were the classic, old school networkers who had clearly gotten the brief that their job here was to meet people. "What's your number, let's get in touch!" one man called Sam said to me. It turns out Sam sells auto parts in that country and although it was unlikely I'd ever meet him again he was keen to keep in touch. "Remember my name!" he said laughing and pointing at his name tag.

Then another man Nate introduced himself and told me laughing, "I don't know why I'm here!!" holding his palms up and shrugging. It turns out that he sells chemicals to this country and like Sam he wasn't quite sure why he was there but he loved a chat and wanted to keep in touch. He gave me his card and said should I ever be in the need for chemicals in a commercial sense to get in touch with him. It was a refreshing albeit slightly odd change from the usual crowd.

And that afternoon an hour after we left I got a message from Sam. "Nice to met you, hope you remember my name, Sam!".

So tell me Dear Reader, are you good at networking? And do you like crunchy cookies? And how do you feel about the flavour of ginger?

Gingersnaps Gingernuts Recipe Crunchy

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 15 minutes plus 15 minutes resting

Cooking time: 15 minutes per tray

Makes around 12 cookies

• 100g/3.5ozs caster or superfine sugar
• 70g/2.5ozs coconut oil, melted
• 65g/2.3ozs molasses or treacle
• 1 egg white (40g/1.4ozs)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 160g/5.6ozs plain all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda/bicarb
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 tablespoons diced crystallised ginger
• 50g/1.7ozs white sugar for rolling

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 190C/380F or 170C/340F fan forced and line 2 baking trays with parchment. Fit a mixer with a paddle attachment and beat the sugar and coconut oil together until smooth. Add the molasses, egg white and vanilla and beat until combined.

Step 2 - In a jug measure the flour and whisk in the ginger, bicarb, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Add the flour mixture and mix on the lowest speed until just combined. Add the diced crystallised ginger and mix through. Then allow the dough rest on the counter for 15 minutes (place in fridge if it's very hot in your kitchen).

Step 3 - Place the rolling sugar in a shallow bowl. Take a small ball around the size of a walnut (mine were 38g/1.3ozs) and roll into a ball and then roll in the sugar. Place 6 on the baking tray making room for around an inch of spread. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool on the tray.