Ginger cookies with lemon icing and acquired tastes in life

Certain things we learn to love really early in life, while others are an acquired taste. I remember going crazy for Scorsese right after watching “Goodfellas” (the first of his movies I ever watched), but not until I was a young woman I fully appreciated the beauty of “The Godfather”. Go figure.

Not a ginger fan until my late twenties, I can eat a bag of crystallized ginger in no time nowadays – its striking flavor became such a favorite of mine. Go figure. ;)

Ginger cookies with lemon icing
from the beautiful Holiday

Cookies:
1 ¾ cups + ½ tablespoon (250g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
5 tablespoons (40g) icing sugar
70g crystallized ginger, finely chopped
200g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:
¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon lemon juice, more if necessary

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, ground ginger and icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the crystallized ginger and stir to combine. Add the melted butter and vanilla extract and, using a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, stir until everything is well combined.
Roll 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie into a ball, squeezing so you have a compact ball. Place onto prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart, and lightly flatten with a fork dipped in flour. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden. Cool on the pans over a wire rack.
Make the icing: mix the icing sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth and glossy. Add a bit of water if necessary. Drizzle over the completely cooled cookies.

Makes about 35