Mrs. Bean's Nutmeg Apple Ginger Snaps

 

The Fox (my youngest) was obsessed with Fantastic Mr. Fox (the movie), so I decided to make Mrs. Bean’s nutmeg apple ginger snaps – a recipe created by The Live-In Kitchen. This is a great fall cookie for anyone, but even better if you’re a fan of the movie! (Full disclosure: while the Fox was tickled that I made the cookies from the movie, and while he thought they looked nice, he still refused to taste them.)

After a bit of trial and error, I decided that it is best to shape each cookie with a scant 1.5-oz scoop of batter; I got a total of 30 cookies, of which 4 were not topped with sliced apple, but the Fox still didn’t want them. I would have gotten a few more cookies had I figured out my scoop measurement from the start.

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for topping if desired
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. grated nutmeg
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch salt
2 cups butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
6 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. molasses
1 Tbsp. fresh grated ginger root
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
4 Gala apples (Braeburn or Honeycrisp would be good, too)
organic refined sugar and cake sparkles for sprinkling, or any coarse sugar, like turbinado

Preheat the oven to 325 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until light. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, molasses, and fresh ginger and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until fully blended.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three parts, carefully and on low speed, until the ingredients are fully blended.

Working in batches as necessary, roll 2-3 tablespoons of dough into balls and use your hand to flatten them on the prepared cookie sheet to about ¼ inch high and 2 inches apart.

Slice the apples as thinly as you can (crosswise so you can see the star of the core in the middle) and press slices firmly into the center of each cookie. Sprinkle coarse sugar and extra cinnamon evenly over cookies to coat, making sure to cover the edges (I had turbinado sugar, but it would have been prettier with white cake sparkles).

Bake 20 minutes or until the edges are golden. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with more sugar, if desired, and cake sparkles. Let cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.