I’m still trying to nail down the business of cookie stamping. This is Chad Robertson’s recipe for chocolate gingerbread cookies with cardamom. The stamp is Nordicware.
Every recipe I read calls for keeping both the dough and stamp well chilled. After doing this a 3-4 times times, I agree to keeping the stamp cold (and well floured), but unless one lets the dough - chilled and rested - warm up a bit before rolling, it’s pretty impossible to work with, let alone stamp deeply enough for the cookie to retain the markings. Today’s version was marginally acceptable.
Right now I’m at about 20 minutes on the counter before rolling and stamping for the most consistent results. I always pop the stamped and cut-out cookies in the freezer for 15 minutes before baking, which works well (switching the chilled pan out to one which is room-temp before inserting into the oven).
Tomorrow I’ll be taking these to a pre-holiday meet up with my sister and her hubs before things get holi-crazy.
