Alisa Fleming, One Frugal Foodie - Yesterday as I pondered over what ginger-inspired dessert I might concoct for my own birthday treat, I kept coming back to my favorite pair, ginger and chocolate.  That being said, cookies really are the unanimous sweet of choice in our house.  While it may not be an extremely daring venture, I must say that a dairy-free version of those good old tollhouse cookies, with a generous amount of gooey chocolate chip morsels and spiked with bits of sugary ginger is a winner! 

My typical chocolate chip cookie version uses oil, but since it was my birthday, I splurged and used Earth Balance buttery sticks.  You can use any dairy-free margarine you like.

Now, I can’t say exactly how much ginger to use in the whole batch, as I divided up the batch leaving some ginger-free for my cookie-loving, ginger-averse husband. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Ginger Surprise

• 2-1/4 Cups Flour (All-Purpose, White-Wheat, or a Gluten-Free blend with xanthan gum - I successfully tried one from Authentic Foods in this recipe)
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 3/4 Cup White Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar or Evaporated Cane Juice
• 3/4 Cup Margarine (Really, those Earth Balance Buttery Sticks are the best… and no trans fat!)
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Eggs
• 12 Ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I love the ones from Trader Joe’s that are rather generous in size, but those are subject to cross-contamination.  Check with the Enjoy Life or Tropical Source brands for severe allergies)
• 1/4 to 1/2 Cup Finely Diced Ginger (I diced it very fine to keep the ginger from overpowering the cookies, see the picture below of a whole cube next to a diced one.  However, I love ginger, so I may double the size of my bits next time).

Preheat oven to 350º

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, and set aside.  In a mixing bowl, cream together the margarine, sugars, and vanilla.  Add the eggs, and mix them in to make a nice creamy dough.  Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until everything is well combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips and as many ginger bits as you would like, by hand.  [If you have some ginger-averse taste buds in your house, just divide up the dough and make a ginger loaded batch for yourself.]  Drop globs of the dough by the tablespoonful onto a cookie sheet.

 Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until they are no longer doughy in the center and are just turning golden around the edges.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Inhale while warm as the gooey melting chocolate coats the ginger bits with each bite… yum!

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