Gingersnaps With Orange-ginger Cream Filling

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (1 to 1/2 sticks)
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon orange juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, plus more as needed

Recipe

• 1 to make the cookies:.
• 2 in a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt; set aside.
• 3 in the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• 4 add molasses, egg, and vanilla, and beat at medium-high until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
• 5 reduce speed to low; add flour mixture and mix until well combined.
• 6 cover and chill at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.
• 7 preheat oven to 350°f
• 8 place remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a shallow bowl.
• 9 shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat.
• 10 arrange about 2 inches apart on 2 ungreased baking sheets.
• 11 using the bottom of a glass that has been lightly greased, then dipped in sugar, flatten dough into 1/4-inch-thick disks.
• 12 bake 13 to 15 minutes, or until firm.
• 13 remove from oven and immediately transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
• 14 to make the filling:.
• 15 in a medium bowl, combine all ingredients; mix until smooth, adding more powdered sugar as needed (filling should have consistency of very thick frosting).
• 16 with a small spatula, frost bottoms of half the cookies (about 1teaspoon filling each); top with remaining cookies (so bottom sides are together) to make sandwich cookies.
• 17 *the fresh ginger should be peeled unless otherwise noted. to grate fresh ginger, use a microplane grater or a triangular ginger grater, which will catch unwanted ginger fibers in its teeth, leaving behind a juicy, concentrated pulp.