spicy okara ginger cookies •

I received the original recipe for these cookies from my good friend, Deb. And I will repeat her advice, “Don’t leave out the pepper!”  I was curious to see if I could adapt it by using okara and still retain their chewy consistency. Deb’s recipe called for more butter and an egg. You can try cutting back on the sugar...but when I want a cookie, I want it to be a treat!

Spicy Ginger Cookies •

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl cream together for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar,  tightly packed

4 ounces unsalted butter, softened

Continuing to mix, beat in:

l cup wet okara, pressed as dry as possible in a sieve (this is referring to the okara straight from your machine)

1/3 cup molasses

In a medium mixing bowl combine:

2-1/4 cups white unbleached flour

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

2 teaspoons ground ginger

Add dry ingredients to creamed okara mixture on low speed until incorporated. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes (If you are rolling the dough by hand, this is an important step. I, however, am inpatient when it comes to making cookies and can barely wait to eat them. I do not refrigerator my dough, and use my handy-dandy scoop from Pampered Chef® to shape my cookies. If you use the scoop, gently drop cookie in sugar, turn cookie over, then proceed to place on baking sheet). Roll dough into 3/4-inch balls; roll balls in granulated sugar. Place cookies 2 to 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet; flatten with the bottom of a drinking glass. Bake about 12 - 15 minutes, until golden brown and set around the edges but still soft inside. Cool 5 minutes, then remove to a rack to finish cooling. Makes approximately 3 dozen.