Soft Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies: The Secret Is a Cooked Flour Paste – They Stay Tender for Weeks

Instructions

1. Make the paste (the secret to soft cookies). In a bowl, whisk 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (100 g) of the flour with the 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon (220 g) sugar.

2. Bring the milk almost to a boil in a saucepan. Pour the hot milk over the flour and sugar and whisk quickly until you have a smooth paste without lumps.

3. Leave the paste at room temperature, stirring now and then, until it is completely cool. This step matters.

4. Make the dough. Add the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and oil to the cooled paste. Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler, let it cool slightly and add it too. Mix everything well with a spatula.

5. In a separate bowl, mix and sift the remaining flour (start with 1 3/4 cups / 220 g), the cocoa and the baking powder.

6. Work the dry mixture gradually into the wet base to make a soft, tender, slightly sticky dough. If it is too sticky, add the remaining 1/4 cup (30 g) flour.

7. Shape and bake. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), ideally on the conventional top-and-bottom heat setting without the fan. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

8. Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface and roll it out to about 3/8 inch (1 cm) thick.

9. Cut out rounds with a 2 to 2 1/2-inch (5–6 cm) cutter and place them on the baking sheet with small gaps between them.

10. Bake for exactly 10–12 minutes. The cookies feel very soft when they come out and firm up as they cool. Do not bake them longer, or they will harden.

11. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet.

12. Make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk the sifted powdered sugar with the water and lemon juice until smooth. Add more sugar if it is too thin, or a few drops of water if it is too thick.

13. Brush the completely cooled cookies with the glaze, or dip them, and let them dry on a wire rack. This can take several hours.