The Citrusy Ingredient That Adds Some Extra Zing To Gingersnap Cookies
Gingersnaps are a perfect holiday cookie, brimming with warm spices and rich molasses flavor. While classic gingersnaps are delicious in their own right, the small addition of a fresh ingredient takes these spicy little treats from tasty to downright irresistible. All you have to do is add 1 to 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to your gingersnap dough, and you won't be able to get enough.
Lemon and ginger are two flavors often paired together, whether in the form of tea blends, savory applications like salmon or chicken, or sweets like baked goods. The warming spiciness of ginger combines beautifully with the bright, tart punch that lemon packs; both are strong flavors that can stand up to one another and harmonize. That little extra zip that lemon juice provides adds an immense amount of flavor and freshness to gingersnaps as well, and the addition will have everyone asking for your recipe the next time you bake them.
A little lemon adds some zing (and more)
Lemon is a popular inclusion in many baked goods, not just as the main flavor but as a way to enhance and complement other flavors. From the light, airy touch of lemon zest to the more acid-forward bite of a squeeze of juice, this citrus fruit brings complexity to a dish and highlights other ingredients in the batter. The acidity in lemon causes the mouth to salivate more; this increased salivation causes the tongue to taste food more acutely, so those sugary, spicy, gingery-molasses gingersnap notes will all come out even more strongly alongside a squeeze of lemon.
Lemon also acts as an activator for baking soda, which is an ingredient present in many gingersnap recipes. The citric acid in lemon interacts with the leavener in baking soda, orsodium bicarbonate, to form gas in the form of carbon dioxide; this gas causes the cookie batter to expand, rising and causing a fluffy and airy texture to form. The benefits of adding lemon to your gingersnaps are twofold: Both flavor and texture are affected, and the results are irresistible.
Orange and ginger also pair well
If you want something a little sweeter than the extreme sourness of lemon but still crave that pop of fresh citrus flavor in your gingersnaps, try going with a splash of orange juice instead. Oranges, while still acidic, are much less tart than lemons and have their own citrusy sweetness to them. Orange juice can be exchanged for lemon juice in recipes in equal parts, and the citric acid in orange juice will work the same way as lemon juice when interacting with other ingredients.
Don't want to use juice for one reason or another? You can also infuse that delicious orange flavor into your cookies with a healthy teaspoon of orange zest. Just be aware that the zest of fruit is far less acidic than the juice, so the flavor and texture of the final outcome may be affected if you decide to go this route. But whether you're using lemon or orange, juice or zest, your gingersnaps will benefit from that extra pop of freshness either way.