Gingerbread Cookies w/ White Chocolate

"These taste like Christmas."

This is the first year I've made these cookies, and they are definitely going into the yearly "To Bake For the Holidays" bank. I have made gingerbread men, and just regular gingerbread, but I have never made gingerbread cookies quite like this before. I have to say I prefer this recipe, because they have all the gingerbread taste in a soft cookie form. The texture is so great -- you could eat about 10 at once if you're not careful!

I really wanted to add white chocolate Hershey kisses (to mimic my usual peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses), but I couldn't find them in the store. I could have sworn they made them around the holidays -- does anyone know? Anyways, instead I just got some white chocolate chips, and melted them in the center. It did the trick. I made some cookies with, and some without, the white chocolate, and both were fabulous! The white chocolate ones were definitely the favorite -- it pairs beautifully with the gingerbread by adding a nice creaminess to the spiced cookie. ENJOY!

Ingredients
* 3 cups flour
* 2 tsp. ginger
* 1 tsp. cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 1/4 tsp. salt
* 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temp
* 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup molasses
* 1 egg
* 1 tsp vanilla extract

* White chocolate chips or white chocolate Hershey kisses
* More granulated sugar (to roll the cookies in)

Directions
* With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium until fluffy (about 2 minutes).
* Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla until thoroughly incorporated.
* In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (first six above).
* Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture into the wet mixture in 1/2 cup increments, until just combined.
* Form the dough into a ball, and wrap well in plastic wrap.
* Refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours (important for getting the right texture to the cookie).
* Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350 F.
* Shape the dough into 1 inch balls, and then roll in granulated sugar. Will look like so:
* Make sure to bake the cookies while the dough is still cold! If it has warmed up, pop the baking sheet in the fridge for about 15 minutes before baking.
* Bake for 10-12 minutes.

* Once the cookies are out of the oven, while still on the baking sheet, press the white chocolate chips into the cookies. Once I did this for every cookie, the white chocolate was melted, and I just swirled it together with my finger to give it a more even texture in the center. After that, transfer to a wire rack, and let cool.

Anddd then, they're ready to go. Hope you like them!!

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