crunchy munchy

these are a variation on swedish ginger thins, those crispy little wafers made for munching and/or leaving a crumb trail while navigating the labyrinth called ikea. the crushed ginger thins make a good pie crust or base for a cheesecake...i bet these would, too...but who would want to go to all that trouble? :0) i cut these out with very small 1-inch cookie cutters which turned out to be quite dangerous, due to their ease of snackability.

orange cardamom ginger thins

3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
zest from 1 orange
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup sour cream

glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tbs. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1. whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

2. in electric mixer, fitted with paddle attachment mix butter and sugar until light. add orange zest, molasses and sour cream and mix well.

3. add dry ingredients to mixer and beat until just mixed.

4. form into a disk and wrap in plastic. chill until firm, about 2 hours. meanwhile, mix all glaze ingredients until consistency of molasses. place plastic wrap on the surface and set aside until ready to use.

5. preheat oven to 400 degrees.

6. on a well floured surface, roll out dough very thin (a little less than 1/8 inch).

7. cut with 1-2 inch cookie cutters and transfer to ungreased baking sheets.

8. bake 6-8 minutes, depending how crispy you prefer. let cookies set for a minute before transferring to wire racks.

9. brush tops lightly with prepared glaze and let dry. if you like, you can sprinkle with sparkly sugar for extra fanciness.

makes about 100 small cookies