Ground Vs. Fresh Ginger: Which Is Best For Baking Cookies?

The spicy, warm aroma of ginger amplifies cookies and cakes and adds sweetness to proteins like crispy ginger-glazed tofu and ginger chicken rice porridge. The ginger used in cooking comes from the knobby root of Zingiber officinale, an herbaceous flowering plant that bears yellow blooms. The perennial plant has its roots in Asia and is often used to flavor foods and promote healthy digestion. But ground ginger is best for bakes like chewy gingerbread cookies and spicy sweet gingersnaps.

Fresh ginger can be boiled in water for a fragrant tea, or grated and minced to be stirred into savory dishes like pasta or roasted butternut squash soup. Peppery ground ginger can be sprinkled into baked goods for snappy flavor. Ground ginger is a fine powder made from dried, pulverized ginger root. This process gives it a different flavor from its fresh counterpart. Ground ginger tends to have a milder taste which still adds heat and zing to classic holiday cookies and a homemade pumpkin spice blend.

Why ground ginger is best for baking cookies

Ground ginger brings a peppery flavor to sweet and savory cooking. But while the spice features in curries and stews, it often blends into batters and baked goods better than fresh ginger does. It's for this reason that cookie recipes most often feature easily-dispersed ground ginger, which adds no texture to a dough, and can stand up to the heat of the oven without disintegrating. 

Ground ginger can work as a replacement for fresh ginger in many cases. Approximately ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger is comparable to one teaspoon of grated fresh ginger. But it's best not to substitute fresh ginger in recipes calling for the powdered ingredient as the texture and moisture content is quite dissimilar. 

You can make your own ground ginger by drying and dehydrating the fresh root, and then grinding it into a fine powder. Freshly ground ginger is much more pungent, and closer in flavor to the fresh root. While it can be good for as long as two years on the shelf, ground ginger's natural oils — which lend its signature aromatics and flavor — deteriorate as the powder ages. If you're wondering whether your ground ginger is fresh enough for your favorite recipe, give it a whiff. If it doesn't smell like ginger, your cookies will benefit from a new jar of this sweetly warm spice.

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