As far as I’m concerned, the Christmas season doesn’t begin until Santa arrives at the end of September the Thanksgiving Day parade. This year, I watched him from a balcony 22 stories over State Street, while feasting on breakfast casserole, raisin toasts with whipped, sweetened goat cheese, and an undisclosed number of mimosas. (Drinking that much champagne was ill-advised, considering that I had a long day ahead of me. Pace yourself, Jeff … is what I usually say to myself right before throwing all discipline to the wind.) By some Thanksgiving miracle, when dinner came around, I was still “hungry” enough to relish it. And go for seconds. And have two desserts. And a couple of cocktails and a glass of wine.

I swear to you, I eat salads most days!

When it comes to holiday baking, though, I don’t really mind throwing myself into it with abandon. Last week, I baked up some Oatmeal Cookies with Raisins and Coconut, and this week, it’s Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies. Caramelized and crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. An oatmeal cookie with spices reminiscent of a gingersnap. Their scent is amazing, and they taste fantastic. I cannot imagine a cookie that goes better with a cappuccino! I’ve been dunking them like crazy eating nothing but salad in anticipation of including these at my Christmas feast.

What you will need to make 24 cookies:

3¾ oz. all-purpose flour (about ¾ cup)
1½ oz. crystalized ginger, chopped (about ¼ cup, or ¾ oz. of finely minced ginger, from a 1 oz. piece)
4¼ oz. old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking, about 1½ cups)
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1½ tsp freshly ground gingerbread spice (See below. If not freshly ground, increase by 50%.)
3 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature (6 Tbs)
3¾ oz. dark-brown sugar (½ cup packed)
2 oz. granulated sugar (about ¼ cup)
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1½ oz. dried black mission figs (about 8 small figs), stems removed, chopped
1½ oz. dried cranberries (about ¼ cup)
Grated zest of ½ large orange (optionally)

How to do it:

1. Measure out the flour. Remove ½-tsp, and add it to the chopped ginger. Mix with your hands, rolling the pieces between your fingers until the ginger no longer sticks together.
2. (Optionally, process 1½ oz. of the oats in a food processor until finely ground, about 1 minute. This will produce a thicker cookie.)
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and gingerbread spice; set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until the mixture changes color (to a medium khaki) and seems fluffy, scraping down bowl as necessary (at least twice); this takes about 7 minutes, ramping up to medium-high speed during the first minute. Add egg and vanilla; beat until combined. Gradually add oat mixture; beat just until combined. Stir in ginger, figs, cranberries, (and zest) at lowest speed.
5. Refrigerate batter, tightly covered, for at least two hours or overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 350°F.
7. Drop the cookies by the rounded Tbs (about ¾ oz. per cookie; if you prefer a larger cookie, 2 oz. is nice) onto cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are golden brown – not just on the edges, but on the tops – but still soft, 12-14 minutes. Cool 5-6 minutes on sheets; transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Gingerbread Spice

Cinnamon – 2 parts
Ginger – 2 parts (halve if using fresh ginger)
Allspice – 1 part
Nutmeg – 1 part
Cloves – 1 part

Notes: chill time is critical. Overnight is far preferable; 48 hours is even better. When the dough comes out of the fridge, the dry ingredients should have absorbed the liquid ingredients to the extent that the dough isn’t excessively sticky (meaning, you should be able to push them, rather than scrape them, out of the spoon as you’re measuring). However, if the dough is too is sticky, roll the drops in cake flour before placing them on the baking sheets, and chill them on the sheets before baking. Feel free to swap out the dried fruit with any of your favorites, or completely with raisins. Change up the spices to make them you own, too. If you omit grinding the oats – which produces a flatter cookie – a light dusting of powdered sugar just before serving them wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

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