Ingredients

• 1/2 cup / 3.5 oz / 90 g turbinado sugar
• 6 ounces / 170 g bittersweet chocolate
• 2 cups / 8.5 oz / 245 g whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1/2 cup / 4 oz / 113 g unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup / 2 oz / 60 ml unsulphured molasses
• 2/3 cup / 3.75 oz / 100 g fine grain natural cane sugar, sifted
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger, peeled
• 1 large egg, well beaten

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C degrees - racks in the top and bottom third of the oven. Line a couple baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper or a Silpat mat, and place the large-grain sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Finely chop the chocolate bar into 1/8-inch pieces, more like (mostly) shavings really.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, and salt.
4. Heat the butter in a saucepan until it is just barely melted. Remove from heat and stir in the molasses, sugar, and fresh ginger. The mixture should be warm, but not hot at this point, if it is hot to the touch let it cool a bit. Whisk in the egg. Now pour this over the flour mixture, and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate.
5. I like these cookies tiny, barely bite-sized, so I scoop out the dough in exact, level tablespoons. I then tear those pieces of dough in two before rolling each 1/2 tablespoon of dough into a ball shape. From there, grab a small handful of the big sugar you set aside earlier and roll each ball between your palms to heavily coat the outside of each dough ball. Place dough a few inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until cookies puff up, darken a bit, and get quite fragrant.
6. Makes roughly 4 dozen.