Sambal Gingerbread Cookies
Gingerbread cookies have to be one of our favorite Christmas snacks. They’re sweet, buttery, and most crucially, that tingly hit of earthy, ginger-cinnamon spice always gets us going back for more! And it’s that spiced attribute of these cookies that gave us inspiration for this recipe. We thought: what if we added even more spice to gingerbread cookies, really leaning into our Asian love of spice, kicking it up a whole notch with… sambal! So that’s exactly what we did, and boy did they turn out well — deeply-spiced and ever more savory, but still with that sweet nuttiness characteristic of gingerbread cookies. We love it!
Sambal Gingerbread Cookies
INGREDIENTS
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 2 tbsp Homiah Sambal Chili Crunch (Seaweed flavor)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cinnamon powder
- ½ tbsp ginger powder
METHOD
- In a large bowl with a whisk, or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and dark brown sugar for 2-3 minutes until it lightens in color and is fluffy. Add in the Homiah Sambal Chili Crunch and egg, and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Next, sift in all the dry ingredients — all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon powder, and ginger powder — and beat it on low speed until a cookie dough forms. Gently shape the cookie dough into a large disc, and wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, up to 2 days.
- When ready to bake, heat an oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper or a silicone mat.
- Take the cookie dough out of the fridge and place it on a well-floured countertop. Then, using a long rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is ¼-inches thick. Cut the dough into your desired shapes using cookie cutters, and place the shapes on the lined baking trays. Repeat for all the dough. (You can also bundle up the scraps and trimmings at the end of punching out the shapes, and combine them again and reroll them out for more cookies.)
- Bake the cookies in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are slightly darkened. When done, let the cookies cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring them onto a cooling rack. Once cooled, they’re ready to eat!