Dovetail Bakery's Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

Try this vegan recipe from Oregon, your tongue will forever thank you! With ginger, orange zest and molasses...yummm! Try it, your tongue will forever thank you. From Morgan Grundstein-Helvey, Dovetail Bakery and posted in Oregon Live(hosted by The Oregonian)

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Yields: 2 1/2 dozen

Ingredients

• 3  cups all-purpose flour (may replace 1/2 cup of the flour with whole wheat flour)
• 2 1⁄4 teaspoons baking soda
• 2  tablespoons ground ginger
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1⁄4 cup  chopped crystallized ginger
• 1  cup  Earth Balance margarine (Original Buttery Spread- 79 percent vegetable oil)
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar (divided)
• 2  grated oranges, zest of
• 2⁄3 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons egg substitute (Ener-G)
• 36  fresh blueberries (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, allspice and crystallized ginger; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat the Earth Balance spread, 1 cup sugar, orange zest and molasses until well incorporated, 30 to 45 seconds at medium speed if you’re using an electric mixer. Add the egg replacer and mix to incorporate, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix until well incorporated.
2. Pour the remaining ½ cup sugar into a small bowl. Shape 2-tablespoon portions of dough into balls and place in the bowl with the sugar. Roll the dough balls around until they’re completely coated. Place on baking sheets about 3 inches apart. If using, place a fat blueberry in the middle of each cookie. Bake for 10 to12 minutes or until they have all puffed up and are starting to look crackly. Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
3. To get ahead for the holidays: These cookies are great for potlucks, thank-you gifts and last-minute guests. The dough freezes well, so it’s a great thing to keep on hand during the holiday season. The easiest way to keep this dough is to scoop it out into 2 tablespoon-sized balls, freeze on a baking sheet, then wrap thoroughly in plastic and keep frozen. You can bake these directly from the freezer without defrosting by tossing them in sugar and baking for 15 to 20 minutes, or until puffed and crackly.