Soft Ginger Cookies With Spiced Butter Cream Frosting (AKA: OMG, the best cookies I've ever made in my life)

I first made these cookies on a whim as just a vessel for the extra butter cream frosting I had made for a different project, but to my surprise, they turned out to be some of the most scrumptious cookies I've ever made in my whole life! What luck!

I cannot take any credit in any invention of these, though. Both the cookies and the frosting were created by Angela from Oh She Glows.

I was playing around in the kitchen with a Valentine's Day recipe, and when I was finished, I realized I had half a bowl of delicious vegan butter cream frosting left. I stared at it. It stared at me. "It'd be so easy to just eat the rest of that frosting with the spatula", I thought. But my conscience got the best of me and I decided to hop on the computer and find a quick cookie recipe that would compliment the butter cream frosting; at least then I could share the cookies.

I stumbled across these soft ginger cookies and thought they'd be a great pairing - that and I also just discovered I have a new love for ginger-flavored things.

Here's how it turned out . . .

Soft Ginger Cookies With Spiced Butter Cream Frosting

For the cookies, you'll need:

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp Earth Balance buttery stick
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 Flax egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp baking soda
2.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

To make the cookies:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mix flax egg in small bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the Earth Balance and sugar until combined. Add the molasses, maple syrup, flax egg, and vanilla and beat.
4. In a medium sized bowl sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt, clove). Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet while beating with a mixer to combine. Beat until smooth and mixed well.
5.With slightly wet hands, shape the dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Carefully flatten ball slightly with hand. Bake for 10 minutes at 350F. 

 For the frosting, you'll need:

(makes about 3/4-1 cup)

1/2 cup Earth Balance Butter Stick, softened
1 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp almond milk (as needed to thin out to desired consistency)

To make the frosting:

1. Whip the Earth Balance with a mixer until smooth.
2. Now add half of the icing sugar and blend well, stopping to scrape the side of bowl as needed.
3. Add in the vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and almond milk (if needed). Mix well.
4. Add in the remaining icing sugar and blend for several minutes, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl.

The result was a soft, spicy and sweet cookie that explodes with so many flavors with the addition of the butter cream. A very tasty treat, indeed!

Have you ever made a recipe on a whim that really impressed you?