I love a nice spicy ginger beer, something that leaves a lingering heat in the back of my throat. Now pair the spicy ginger beer with a nice dark and spicy rum and a touch of lime and I will be there. A dark and stormy is a perfect drink at pretty much any time of year – in the winter it’s got that kick from the ginger beer warming you from tip to toe and in the summer serve it with a big glass of ice and it’s insanely refreshing. I’ve always been a little bit obsessed with the dark and stormy – maybe it’s because i’m just obsessed with that gingery bite and the warmth of the rum. But I do know that more than anything since that first sip of dark and stormy I’ve wanted it as a cookie – not too sweet an with a nice crunch. Never did I imagine this.
I created these cookies on a whim – they had been germinating in my head for a VERY long time but the timing was never quite right. I couldn’t find the right base recipe or I was out of ginger, there was always something missing. And then, this year I signed up for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap (you can sign up to do it next year here) that Julie and Lindsay organized – a monumental collection of bloggers coming together to pack cookies in boxes and ship them all around the country was a perfect excuse to do what I wanted to do – try recipes and make dark and stormy cookies! So I did what any responsible adult that grew up in a household of cooking will do, I called my mom.
I asked for a recommendation as to what sort of base to make while flipping through my copy of Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook and came across a recipe for Glazed Lemon Cookies – a slice and bake that looked easy enough and that I had all the ingredients for (win). So I threw the recipe out there – what if I used this recipe and swapped out some flavors for others, did Mom think it would work? She said yes and then goodbye in rapid succession (she had to go to the farm for turkey time).
So, without further ado – Dark and Stormy cookies inspired by my tendency to be a bit of a lush and encouraged by a great many people along the way.
Dark and Stormy Cookies
Adapted from the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook recipe for Glazed Lemon cookies and the glaze recipe for Cornmeal-Lime Cookies from Flour by JB Chang.
Cookies:
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs grated Lime zest (about 1 lime)
2-3 Tbs finely minced candied ginger
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
12 Tbs unsalted butter – cut into 1/2 inch cubes and chilled
1 large egg yolk
1 Tbs good ginger beer (Reed’s has a great spice, or Barritt’s if you want to stay classic)
2 Tbs dark spiced rum (I adore Kraken – there’s an octopus on the bottle but it also happens to be awesome)
Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tbs rum
1 Tbs ginger beer
Zest of one lime (optional)
In a food processor combine the sugar, zest, and ginger, pulse until the sugar looks a little damp – about 7 pulses, this will be a little bit sticky. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to the sugar mixture, pulse until fully combined – about 10 pulses. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the whole thing looks like fine cornmeal – 15 pulses should do it. In a small bowl mix the egg yolk, ginger beer, and rum together until fully combined, pour this into the food processor, run the processor for another 20-25 secs until the whole mixture starts to come together in a ball. When the dough has come together turn it out onto a parchment lined counter and gently knead whatever loose flour is still a bit loose into the dough. Form the dough into a log 12-14 inches long by 2 inches wide. Wrap this log in parchment paper and stick in the fridge for two hrs or up to two days, on the inverse if you want to cool your cookies quickly you can also stick this log in the freezer for 45 mins – but be careful with this as it can get far too firm if left too long. Once the cookies have firmed up, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and pull the cookies out of the cold place. cut the cookies into 3/8 inch wide rounds and arrange them on 2 baking sheets about an inch apart, they don’t spread if they have firmed up enough in the fridge. Bake the cookies fro 12-16 mins, mine took twelve, rotating the pans halfway through baking so that they are on different shelves of the oven and back to front. When the cookies have golden brown edges and have puffed a bit in the center they are done. Pull them from the oven and allow the to cool completely.
For the glaze mix the confectioner’s sugar, rum, and ginger beer together in a small bowl, the mixture should be quite runny. Line the counter under your cookie racks with parchment paper. Using a pastry brush paint the glaze onto the tops of the cookies, in two layers (the first should pretty much soak right in). While the glaze is still liquid sprinkle lime zest on the tops of the cookies, only do this if you are eating the cookies that day or else the lime gets a bit overpowering. Now go and share these with someone who loves rum and ginger as much (or more so) than yourself. they will say thank you.