Spiced Rye Ginger Cookies

I'm not sure why I keep trying different ginger cookies-- it's not like I'm a huge fan of ginger, or even spice desserts for that matter.  I think I'm looking for a hearty breakfast cookie-- something not too sweet, that I can sink my teeth into, dip into my coffee, and not feel guilty about.  (This Breakfast Cookie didn't work out so well.)  To me, the basis for that is in whole grains for nutrition and character, and spices for flavor.  (My imaginary recipe would also keep well for days, long enough for me to work my way through them.)  So I was intrigued by the use of rye flour here.  I thought it would give the cookies some substance.  I'm sure it did, but I don't know if you'd be able to identify the rye without being told it was there, even though I used dark rye rather than medium.  The only other change I made was to roll them in Sucanat, which is unrefined, natural cane sugar.  It has a dry, dark brown grain with a soft crunch rather than hard crystals.  It's producing the grainy texture you see in the photo.

Here is the original recipe:

    2 cups (212g) medium rye flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon table salt
    2 teaspoons ginger
    3/4 teaspoon black pepper
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/2 teaspoon cardamom
    3/4 cup (149g) granulated sugar
    1/2 cup (99g) vegetable oil
    1 large egg
    1/4 cup (85g) molasses
    1/3 cup (76g) coarse sparkling sugar or 1/3 cup (66g) granulated sugar
    chopped crystalized ginger for topping (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, using either a hand whisk, an electric mixer, or a stand mixer, whisk the sugar and oil until combined. Add the egg and whisk until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and stir until well combined. Use a spoon (or a tablespoon cookie scoop) to portion 1 1/4" balls of dough. Roll the dough balls in granulated or sparkling sugar to coat before placing onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave 2" between them on all sides; they'll spread as they bake. Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until they're puffed and their edges are set. Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool completely right on the pan.

A keen eye will detect that I had a little trouble with these.  It looks like my oven might have been a bit too hot, causing them to rise and firm rather than melt into flat puddles like the King Arthur examples, with "bendy centers" as they called them.  The bigger issue was that I didn't know what they meant by the edges being "set".  When I first tested them, the edges were no longer shiny, but still quite soft.  By the time they were what I consider "set" (slightly resistant to a poke), they were overdone, and even slightly burnt on the bottom.  (I didn't bake them that much longer!)  I probably should have taken them out about 30 seconds after my first test.  Oh well.  That's how the cookie crumbles.

Conclusion:  These tasted a lot like ginger snaps, but with a mild burnt sugar flavor because of being over baked, which wasn't necessarily unpleasant. They were quite hard and crunchy, which is not how they were supposed to turn out. I enjoyed them well enough dipped in hot coffee, but they weren't anything special 

Recipe:  Spiced Rye Ginger Cookies via King Arthur Baking

Ginger Rum Balls

Swedish meatballs, anyone?  Oh, wait... these are the rumball cookies.  Fooled you!  What a disappointment.  Read on...

I thought I'd be whipping these together quickly -- it was anything but quick.  Everything needed to be finely chopped, which is very time-consuming, and then all the balls rolled individually.  Could you do it in a food processor?  Probably, but you'd likely get uneven texture with some larger chunks and lots of pulverized dust.  These should have some bite to them, not be like mush, but chunks will make them fragile and not hold together.

That wasn't the only problem with this recipe.  Shockingly, I couldn't find gingersnaps (seriously???), so I had to improvise with graham crackers and extra powdered ginger.  (I could have used Nilla wafers, but I don't like them and they're too sweet.  Then again, I don't like graham crackers either.)  It "worked" in that they came together, but I didn't care for the results at all.  You have to start with a base you like-- all the additives aren't going to fix it if it's not tasty to start with. 

Here's what I used, which yielded 25 approximately 1-inch balls:

2 cups gingersnap crumbs, about 56 cookies 12 graham crackers (1¹/₃ packages)

1 cup walnuts, toasted

1/2 cup dark raisins, finely chopped

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons dark rum

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

1/2 teaspoon 1 tablespoon ground ginger 

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 cup powdered sugar (used, but shouldn't have)

2 tablespoons VERY finely chopped, crystallized ginger

 

Spread 1/2 cup gingersnap crumbs in shallow dish; set aside. In large bowl, combine remaining 1½ cups gingersnap crumbs, walnuts, raisins, milk, rum, orange peel, ground ginger, and nutmeg; stir until thoroughly blended. Shape mixture by level tablespoons into balls. Toss reserved gingersnap crumbs with crystallized ginger; roll balls in mixture to coat thoroughly. Store in tightly covered containers in cool, dry place at least 24 hours and up to two weeks.

 

My recollection of rum balls is that they're almost always far too sweet.  They start with a sweet cookie, then add even more sugary ingredients, resulting in something more like a confection than a cookie.  My aim was to keep the sugar content in check.  So imagine my surprise when I tasted the dough and thought, "It could use more sugar."  Besides, it seemed a little wet.  So I added a little powdered sugar.  However, these firmed and dried quite a bit over the following days and didn't need the added powdered sugar, either for flavor or texture.

Mixing them was a bit of a disaster.  When I tried to roll the balls in the coating, all the crystallized ginger fell off.  The balls were too dry!  I finally threw all the balls back into the bowl, dumped in the coating mixture and blended it all together.  (This would have contributed to the cookies firming up considerably, even though I threw in a hearty splash of rum.)  I would not attempt again trying to keep the crystallized ginger on the outside, but would just mix it in to start with.

In the end, they tasted like a commercial cookie, slightly lemony.  (I have a flavoring called "Princess Cake" that is slightly lemony and reminds me of the flavor of commercial baked goods.  It's probably what the graham crackers had been flavored with.)  And the ginger flavor kept changing:  at first it was just a sensation of heat; after a few days it became somewhat floral, almost soapy; after two weeks it had mellowed and practically disappeared, leaving just a trace of heat behind.  The raisins shined through everything, but not so much the orange or other spices, and the rum disappeared in short order.

Conclusion:  Sorely disappointed.  Not distinctly gingery, only mildly rummy.  Mostly they tasted like store-bought raisin cookies.  And they were ugly!!  (I don't have a photo of the magazine's product, but everything about them is brown.)  But I'm hesitant to toss the recipe because I messed up on the main ingredient.  Then again, there are a lot of other recipes out there.  This one was a fail.

Recipe:  "Ginger-rum Balls" recipe card from women's magazine

December ABC challenge: Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

 

This month's challenge is a favorite holiday dessert.  For many years, this has been one of my trusty go-tos for a holiday gathering.  It's delicious, easy to make, usually foolproof (see explanation below), and the best part is that it's better after a couple days, so it can be made ahead.

2 1-ounce squares semisweet chocolate
2 cups all-purpose flour
2¹/₂ teaspoons ground ginger, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup dark (unsulphured) molasses
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour (or use cocoa powder) a 9'' springform pan.   In a small heavy saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate, stirring constantly until smooth.  Remove from heat to cool. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine flour, 1½ teaspoons ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg to blend thoroughly; beat in molasses and buttermilk.  Reduce speed to low; gradually beat in flour mixture.  Beat in melted chocolate until well blended.  Pour batter into prepared pan; bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool cake in pan on wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan to rack to cool completely.   To decorate, in small bowl combine cocoa powder and remaining 1 teaspoon ginger; sprinkle evenly over cooled cake.

Thanks to a boyfriend who didn't know that the heavy aluminum plate the cake I made him was resting on wasn't disposable, I lost the bottom to my 9" springform pan.  No good deed..., as they say.  (Note to readers:  never turn over a cake to others that's still on the springform bottom -- you'll never see it again.)  I should have tried making this in a standard 9" cake pan -- I'm sure it would have worked fine.  But instead I used an 8" springform and it did NOT work well.  I didn't reduce the temperature (I probably should have), but I did bake it about another 15 minutes.  I also probably should have put foil around the top edges once they'd cooked.  I even have cake pan insulators that help a cake bake evenly, but I completely forgot about them.  I was hoping the center would eventually rise as it completed baking, but it actually sunk lower.  (Possibly from all my jabbing with a cake tester to see if it was done yet.)

Conclusion:  As a long-time trusted recipe, I'm disappointed in how it turned out this time.  It was still rich, moist, and delicious, but the flavor seemed a little too intense.  It's possible that was a result of the changed texture from improper baking, or perhaps my tastes have changed.  (Admittedly, it's been a while since I've made it.)  You have to be careful with the cocoa powder on top--if it's at all loose (as it was this time on the smaller cake), it can make people choke.  A light drizzle of dark chocolate ganache might be a good addition.

Recipe:  "Dreamy Chocolate Gingerbread Cake" from a magazine, circa 1980-something

December ABC challenge: Dirty Chai Earthquake Cookies

The challenge theme this month is spices.  I wasn't necessarily looking for a spice cookie, but I happened upon this recipe, which had rave reviews.  Terrible name, but it seems "dirty chai" is a particular type of drink in which a shot of espresso is poured into a cup of spiced chai.  (Why not just make spiced coffee???)  And the "earthquake" part is from the cracks in the sugar coating.

It's a small recipe, so I made the whole thing, which is supposed to make only 2 dozen cookies.  The only change I made was an adjustment of salt, using salted butter, which I countered by reducing the salt in the ingredient list but ultimately resulted in a higher salt content than the original recipe, and I substituted out malted milk powder.  Here's what I used:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 tablespoon finely ground coffee (not instant)
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted then measured (255 grams)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 1/4 teaspoon kosher fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
2 large eggs
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or paste
2 tablespoons malted milk powder, such as Carnation brand malt syrup
1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted, for rolling

Brown the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, swirling and stirring occasionally, until nutty brown, 5 to 6 minutes.  Pour over the espresso/coffee in a small metal bowl and stir to combine.  Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, salt, and pepper; set aside.  With an electric mixer, combine eggs, and light brown sugar in a medium bowl and beat on medium speed until well combined and slightly paler, about 3 minutes, scraping bowl as needed.  Add the vanilla and malt syrup to the butter mixture, stirring to combine, then add that to the egg mixture and mix on low speed until combined.  Add the flour mixture, then mix again on low until combined.  Transfer dough to a resealable glass or plastic container and chill thoroughly, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Put granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar into two separate bowls.  Portion dough into heaping tablespoons (about 25 grams each); roll into smooth balls and drop a few at a time into the bowl of granulated sugar, rolling to coat.  Transfer to the bowl with the confectioners’ sugar and roll gently, coating well and place in freezer until firm, about 10 minutes.  Place on a greased baking sheet, flattening slightly (if you want a less domed cookie) and bake until cookies are still quite tender (they will firm up as they cool), 12 to 14 minutes.  Let cool a few minutes on the baking sheets and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

The dough sat tightly covered in my refrigerator for 3 days before I baked off half of it; that resting time should have really improved the flavor and enhanced the spices, but it didn't seem to.  I did find the cookies dry; they might be less so if I used an air-insulated pan.

My scale wasn't working, so I couldn't measure out 25g of dough.  I was further confused by the instructions to use a "small" cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon.  I have a SMALL cookie scoop that's about a teaspoon, and another that's about a tablespoon -- obviously I don't call the larger one the "small" one.  I used the tablespoon-sized scoop and heaped the dough in to round it out so it made something resembling a sphere and didn't bother to roll it any better than that-- they came out about 1.25" in diameter (and went straight into the sugar.)  Perhaps they were a little too small, because they were quite firm at 12 minutes.  (I can't believe some people baked them for 15 minutes and more... then complained they were dry.)

Some people had trouble with the crusts not "cracking", and one piece of advice was to coat them heavily with the powdered sugar.  I think that probably just makes the cracking more prominent for appearance, but likely doesn't affect the tendency to crack or not crack.  And the last thing these needed was more sugar.  However, I followed that advice, unfortunately, as it was too much sugar in the first batch.  I used a lighter touch with the next batch and also experimented with other coatings:  coarse sugar, nonpareils, and none.

Obviously, nothing gave the intended effect other than the heavy powdered sugar coating.  The light sugar coating looked sad.  The coarse sugar looked okay -- the nonpareils not so much, and the plain were downright unappetizing.

Conclusion:  I'm not a fan of sugar-coated cookies, but I thought the dough was going to be less sweet with these so it would be okay.  It was not.  My initial impression was that, if I focused, I noticed the spice flavors, but if I didn't it just tasted sugary.  I didn't detect browned butter at all.  After I'd swallowed the last bite, I detected heat, probably from the pepper, and then coffee (perhaps from a stray ground), both mild. No other spice stood out, they all melded together in a pleasant warmth; it just wasn't enough to counter the sugar.  In the end, I decided this tasted a lot like a cinnamon cake doughnut and so tried it dunked in coffee.... Delightful!  But only as originally prepared, with the crisp, sugary crust.  Any other preparation or technique fell short.

Recipe:  Dirty Chai Earthquake Cookies via NYTimes Cooking 

Gingerbread men

Continuing the search for the ultimate gingerbread man... another contender.  This is pretty good!  Of the 14 recipes I looked at, this one had the most spice relative to flour.  It's intended for a 7" snowflake cutter; my large gingerman was just about that size.

I cut the original recipe in half; this gave me 9 large men and 22 small.  I followed some of the comments that recommended less flour, but otherwise stuck pretty close.  Here's what I used:

3 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1/2 cup whole wheat flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon finely ground pepper

3/4 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough in half; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.  (I did overnight.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to 1/4-inch thick and cut into shapes. Space 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.  Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, 10 minutes for the large men, 8 minutes for the small. Let cool a few minutes on sheets, then move to wire racks. 

I was surprisingly pleased.  The dough was quite spicy, but the resulting cookies not as much so.  At times I thought they needed more spice, other times I thought they were fine.  Sometimes I thought they had too much salt, other times not.  They had noticeable spice, but not as much as ginger snaps.  I'm glad I reduced the flour-- the dough wasn't too difficult to handle and I wouldn't have wanted the flavor diluted any.  

Conclusion:  Very good!  They weren't too hard, and could probably be softer if baked slightly less.  They maybe could use a tad more ginger, but it's not necessary.  I would consider adding a little orange zest, though, and perhaps some anise, just to mix it up a little.  They weren't too sweet for icing, but were plenty sweet plain.

Recipe:  Gingerbread Snowflakes via martha stewart

Grain-free gingerbread pancakes

I made these according to the original recipe, in a waffle iron, and they failed miserably. They were WAY too runny and soft and just made a mess.  I thought it was because the plantains were too ripe, but the next time I made them the greener plantains wouldn't break up into a smooth consistency.  I resolved the problem by using moderately ripe plantains and adding coconut flour and flax seed meal, which absorb some of that moisture.  I haven't tried adding protein powder yet, but think it will improve the nutritional value and can probably replace the coconut flour.

The full recipe makes about 16-18 pancakes (which is two good servings), but it completely filled my food processor and it was hard to get the mixture well blended.

2 large plantains (green/yellow) about 14oz
4 eggs
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 tablespoon flax seed meal
protein powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt  
3 tablespoons coconut oil, liquid
2 tablespoons molasses

Heat griddle on a low flame.  Place peeled plantains, cut into chunks, into a food processor and process as smooth as possible.  Add eggs one at a time alternately with dry ingredients and process between additions.  Blend until smooth and the eggs have fluffed up.   Just before cooking, add coconut oil and molasses and mix thoroughly.  (Stir up from the bottom to make sure it's all mixed evenly.)  Grease hot griddle, then add about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.  Allow to cook until bubbles have formed.  Turn as soon as the pancakes are firm enough.  (It's easier to lay them down slowly than to flip them quickly.)  Cook about 2 minutes, then remove to a warm plate (or cooling rack if storing.)

These are great with butter and a little syrup, and you can eat a lot of them because they're not heavy.  I also like spreading them with almond butter and sandwiching with walnuts and maybe dates for a take along breakfast.

Conclusion:  These are a great low-carb breakfast, and high protein if made with protein powder.  I've made them several times.

Original recipe:  Flourless grain-free gingerbread waffles via PurelyTwins

July ABC challenge: Mixed berry ginger crumb cake

Taking advantage of the season's abundance of fresh berries with this cake.  I cut the recipe in half and then made a few minor adjustments.

Here's what I used:

2.5 ounces raspberries  
2.5 ounces blackberries
2.5 ounces blueberries  
1/4 cup 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brandy (can substitute vanilla extract or perhaps orange blossom water)
 
For the Crumb Topping:
5 tablespoons light brown sugar 
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
2 tablespoons finely diced candied ginger 
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature, cut into small cubes)

For the Cake: 
3/4 cup all-purpose flour  
1/4 cup cornmeal 
1/4 cup 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 
1 teaspoon baking powder  
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (at cool room temperature, cut into small cubes) 
1/3 cup whole milk 
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 4.5-inch loaf pan, a 7" round cake pan, or 1¼-quart baking dish.  In a bowl, toss the berries with the sugar and brandy; set aside.  In another bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and flour, then stir in the crystallized ginger. Blend the butter into the mixture with your fingertips or a fork until crumbs form. Place the bowl in the freezer while you prepare the cake. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, ground ginger and salt. Add the butter pieces and, using your fingertips or a pastry blender, work into the flour mixture until it is completely incorporated and there are no pieces larger than a pea remaining.  In a measuring cup, whisk together the milk and egg, then add to the flour mixture. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the batter together until no pockets of dry ingredients remain. Spread the batter in an even layer in the prepared pan. Using a slotted spoon, remove the berries from the bowl and scatter over the cake batter. Break up the crumb topping into large pieces and scatter over the berries.  Bake until the berries are bubbling and the cake is firm, 40 to 45 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack and cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. The cake can be stored, covered, at room temperature, for up to 2 days.

I used the 7" cake pan, and it was completely filled once the cake baked.  It was hard to tell when it was done, as no cake rose through the berry and crumb topping and it all seemed so wet.  I ended up baking it for 45 minutes, but it seemed okay, although for a small cake that seems like it should have been too long.  The cake was dense, but I think it was supposed to be that way in order to hold up to all that topping.  The crumb topping was quite sweet even with reduced sugar, so I didn't use all of it, although as it turns out I could have.  In the end the cake was only lightly sweet.  It would be great for brunch or a light dessert, but maybe not for breakfast. I think it would also be good with a thin egg custard.  I don't know what role the brandy plays.  I don't think there's any flavor left after all that baking--- certainly not any alcohol--- and it just created more liquid that doesn't get used. 

Conclusion:  Very tasty.  It had an unusual flavor that I couldn't quite pin down, but have to assume it was from the ginger (unless it was the brandy, but I doubt it.)  It seemed to only perfume the cake rather than actually flavor it, it was so subtle.  (Which gives me the idea of using a little orange blossom water in with the berries.)  The cornmeal gave the cake a little more bite, which I liked.  But with three types of berries and three separate concoctions, I'm not sure it's something I'd make again.  It's not "special" enough to go through that trouble. 

Recipe:  Mixed Berry Ginger Crumb Cake via Brown-Eyed Baker

September ABC challenge: speculaas-spiced honey bread

We just moved into a new office building and everyone was going to be unpacking and getting organized first thing Monday morning.  I thought I'd ease the way a little and bring in some fortification.  This spiced bread recipe seemed like the perfect thing, but in muffin form for easy handling.  I had an idea in mind as to how this was going to turn out, and I was excited, but it didn't quite work that way.  Partially, that was because I baked in muffin tins instead of a pan, which caused them to bake faster.  But otherwise, it was the recipe.  True, I didn't follow it exactly, but I don't think my changes should have had any impact on the results.

Here's what I used:

125 g (1¼ cups) fine whole grain, stone ground, dark rye flour
125 g (1¼ cups) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch 1/4 teaspoon salt
65 g (4½ tablespoons) melted butter
110 g (1/3 cup) honey
110 g (1/2 cup) sugar
2 teaspoons speculaas spices (recipe below) or gingerbread /pumpkin pie spices
1 egg
200 g (7 ounces) buttermilk mix of Greek yogurt/milk

Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease or line an 8×8 inch baking tin. (I used muffin tins.) In a bowl, combine the sugar, honey, speculaas spices and melted butter and give it a quick whisk. Beat in the egg. Combine the flours with the baking soda and salt. Sift in the flour in about three stages, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk until you have a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the tin and make sure it is evenly distributed. Bake for 25 minutes, then turn down your oven down to 350° and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove the gingerbread from the oven and let it cool in the tin for about 30 minutes. Wrapping it in foil while still warm helps it stay moist.

Speculaas spice mix (two quantities given -- all measurements are in teaspoons)
cinnamon                                  3 ¼       1 5/8
ground cloves                            1             1/2
grated nutmeg                            3/4        3/8
ground white pepper                   1/2         1/4
ground aniseed                          1             1/2
ginger powder                             1/2        1/4
cardamom powder                       1/4        1/8
totals                                        7 ¼       3 5/8
 
I'm not sure why they have you start at a higher temperature.  Baking soda, unlike baking powder, doesn't need heat to react.  And I baked the second tray at 350, since that's where the oven was, and they turned out the same.

I used my fluted muffin tins for this, thinking the cakelettes would be cute and perfect for work.  But the batter rose so much in the oven that the first batch, though I filled them only 3/4 full, came out completely round.  I put only about a heaping tablespoon in each cup in the second tray, and at least they came up only to the top of the cup, but still the tops are so rounded that I can't set them out with the decorative side up.  They look ridiculous.

As with every recipe I've made from this site, my batter was WAY too thick.  I added about 1/3 cup of water to it, just to loosen it up a bit, and it was still too thick.  I had to pat it down with a wet finger or I might have ended up with peaks and valleys from where the batter held its shape.  Consequently, with all the mixing, and perhaps also due to the high percentage of baking soda, I ended up with large holes.  My home economics teacher would not have been pleased.

Not a nice texture. 

Conclusion:  Very disappointing.  Very bland, and you can taste the baking soda.  Not at all what I had expected.  They rose tremendously while baking, so I think the soda could probably be cut in half.  (I wonder if there's an error in the recipe and it was supposed to be baking powder.)  And they definitely need more spice.  Just seems like the proportions are all wrong on this recipe.

Original recipe:  Dutch speculaas gingerbread cake with rye, buttermilk & honey via Weekend Bakery