Yuletide Ginger Cookies

These holiday ginger cookies swap traditional butter and whole eggs for margarine and egg whites, and replace much of the flour with oat bran cereal. The result is a cookie that’s lighter than a classic gingersnap but still has that warm, spicy ginger-cinnamon flavor you want from a Christmas cookie tray.

The oat bran gives the cookies a slightly nutty, wholesome texture that’s different from an all-flour cookie. Brown sugar and corn syrup keep them chewy and moist, while the baking soda helps them spread into thin, crackly rounds when pressed flat before baking.

Rolling the dough balls in red or green colored sugar crystals before pressing is what makes these festive. Each cookie comes out of the oven sparkling with holiday color.

Kitchen Tips

• Press the dough balls into flat two-inch circles before baking. If you skip this step, they’ll bake into thick, dense puffs instead of thin, crispy rounds.
• Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring. They’re fragile when hot and will break if moved too soon.
• Don’t overbake. Pull them at light golden brown. The cookies firm up significantly as they cool.
• Store tightly covered. The corn syrup keeps them chewy, but they’ll dry out if left uncovered.

Variations

• Add a pinch of ground cloves and nutmeg for a more complex spice blend.
• Skip the colored sugar and drizzle with a thin white icing after cooling for an elegant look.
• Press a pecan half into the center of each cookie before baking instead of using sugar crystals.