It's time again for our 2-Ingredient Improv Challenge with Kristen. The ingredients for February are... what the heck!? Carrots & Ginger?!? We don't "do" carrots sweet at this house. No braising them with citrus, no glazing them with ginger, and we most def do not sauté them with honey & herbs! Carrots are either eaten raw (every day, in every lunch) or roasted with other root vegetables with olive oil drizzle.
Whilst deciding on an acceptable recipe, I determined I would make crystallized ginger for my dish. (You can read my blog about that here.) It was not too arduous a task; & the house smelled sooooooo delicious!
I figured I would create some kind of a gingerbread shortbread, because I totally wanted to utilize my ancient Pampered Chef clay mold
(which, by-the-way, hasn't seen any action for decades, except to decorate my kitchen wall the past ten years...)
Unfortunately, adding a carrot purée to shortbread maketh a most sticky mess! Plus, I wanted my cookie to be a little healthier than pounds of white flour, butter & powdered sugar would be... (Although -- I do know my way around a shortbread cookie!)
Anyhoooooo -- I whipped up a semi-healthy concoction I named "Gingered Carrot Drops" and made a little Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling to sandwich them together. Here are the recipes:
And here are some pics on how I made them...
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| Hate to see all that beautiful crystallized ginger chopped up. Ahhhh, well... |
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Be sure to smash squash flatten them with a glass dipped in sugar. |
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| Bake them, & then let 'em "chill" for a bit... |
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| Can you see the yummy little ginger chunks? |
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| mmmmmm -- cinnamon & cream cheese! |
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| Spread some love! |
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| ...tasty little sandwich... |
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| This stack won't last long after the boys get home from school... |
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So very delicious with a cup of Earl Grey...
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Those are fantastic and yes perfect with a cup of Earl Grey. I've got the tea can you pass me a cookie?
ReplyDeletePerfect cookie to go with some Earl Gray tea - my favorite!
ReplyDeleteI love that you made your own crystallized ginger! And what a yummy cookie to try it out in :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfectly delicious cookie and I can only imagine how wonderful your house smelled when making the crystallized ginger.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my Improv Cooking Challenge entry: Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
Kudos for making your own crystallized ginger. Your cookies sound delicious.
ReplyDeleteMimi
What a novel way to use ginger in a cookie! Yum!
ReplyDeleteThe look so good! I would love for you to come by and link up to my Recipe Party at The Sweet Spot!
ReplyDeleteOk this looks like the best cookie I have seen in months! Thanks for sharing! Come check out my Carrot Cake Ice Cream
ReplyDeleteI've always loved ginger in cookies. This is a great addition to the challenge list!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful do these look!?!? Found you through the challenge!
ReplyDeleteThese are gorgeous!I love the cinnamon addition to the cream cheese! I can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteOooh, the cinnamon! I'd absolutely devour this! Very creative take on the ingredients! :) Bakers awe me.
ReplyDeleteI love that you spiced up the cream cheese filling, too. Though you said don't do carrots in sweets, these are pretty fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThis is the kind of healthy I can get into. Nice way to use your 2 ingredients! :)
ReplyDeleteYUM! These look so, so good! Love the use of homemade crystallized ginger!
ReplyDeleteAnother delicious recipe! They look wonderful. By the way - I made the lemon curd recipe you had on your blog a few weeks ago. I can never go back to store bought. It is soooo delicious and so easy! Loved it! Time to make some more!
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I never knew you could do so many things with carrots! Your creation looks super tasty. :)
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