Caramel Ginger Crunch Cookies

I've been getting into trying new foods lately, not anything extreme, just not being scared to try something different. Sushi is the latest new thing for me. I've had it a few times over the years, but it's never been that great. Then we went out for sushi a while back, and loved it! Anyhow, I've also been trying new dessert ideas too, not just sticking to my regular "anything with chocolate is good enough" ideals. This recipe surprised me. It was way better than I thought it would be, and I will definitely put these on the list of cookies to make at Christmastime (if I can be bothered to bake in this heat). I'm kind of getting into ginger, and I should try some cooking with ginger one of these days...


Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda (or bicarbonate of soda for the Aussies)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup caster sugar
125g cold butter, chopped
1 egg
1 tsp golden syrup
2 tbsp finely chopped glacé ginger

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan forced) or 325°F and line cookie sheets with baking paper
2. Combine dry ingredients and butter with a processor until crumbly. Add egg, syrup & ginger and process until ingredients hold together, then knead until smooth.
3. Roll rounded spoonfuls of dough into balls and slightly flatten the tops.
4. Bake for 13 minutes. Place a caramel on top of each hot cookie and bake for a further 7 minutes, or until caramel has melted.

Tips:
The dough is strange (to me) in this recipe, and it's not something I am used to, but it worked out beautifully. I also don't have a food processor, so it took a little more muscle as I cut the butter into the mixture. I kneaded it until it was sticking together. It may have helped me to be living in some humidity. I bought Werther's Originals for the caramels, and was short by a quite a few, so I hit them once in the centre with the edge of my marble rolling pin, and they almost all broke fairly neatly in half. KEEP THE WRAPPERS ON if you do this! I tried once without, and there ended up being shards of caramel all over my floor, which soon was a mess of sticky goo (because of the humidity here).

This recipe comes from the Women's Weekly cupcakes cheesecakes cookies cookbook.