Trader Joe's Tuesday Treats: Triple Ginger Snaps
(Wednesday Edition)
Usually my Trader Joe’s Tuesday Treats come out on…Tuesday, but yesterday I was feeling a bit under the weather. I took the day off to rest and recuperate, and today am feeling much better. One restorative step I took was a hearty dose of crisp ginger beer. Ginger aids in digestion, anti-inflammation, muscle pain and overall immunity. Incidentally, it’s also delicious—whether in a beverage or a baked good.
At work one of our star desserts is a Torta di Mela (apple tart) with almond frangipani and maple syrup. (I am lucky to work for a genius Executive Pastry Chef.) The apple tart rests on a bed of ginger Crème Anglaise, a phrase I hear myself say over and over again every time I work: “ginger Crème Anglaise.” No stranger to suggestive selling and the power of repetition, by this week’s visit to Trader Joe’s I had essentially convinced myself to seek out some form of ginger treat. So I grabbed a container of Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger Snap cookies.
TJ’s credits three forms of ginger for these treats remarkable flavor and their name: fresh ginger, crystallized ginger, and dried and ground ginger. The cookies are the perfect sweet spot between soft and crunchy, which at approximately one inch in diameter makes them dangerously addictive. What’s just a few more?
This triple threat showcases the spectacular range of ginger, which when utilized as a fresh root hits quite differently than as a dried warm spice combined with cinnamon and clove. In each separate application, we are lucky to have this new commonly cultivated spice. In medieval Europe, a pound of this Southeast Asian commodity was once as valuable as a single sheep.
Of course nothing compares to a fresh-baked, full-size ginger and molasses cookie. I just couldn’t find any at Trader Joe’s, and their Triple Ginger Snaps are a mighty fine plan B. They pair well with espresso in the morning or a fresh bowl of popcorn settling down to watch a movie at night. There is really no wrong time for a Ginger Snap.
Fair warning: keep a tight lid on these bad boys. Delicious though they may be when extra crunchy, for maximum enjoyment they must be kept as fresh as possible to retain a soft/crunchy nirvana.
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I don’t start my morning without Trader Joe’s ginger snaps along with my coffee!! They are so delicious and gingery!