prepare for an ass-whoopin'

When I bake things for just me and the husband, I don't go to too much work. I like to keep things simple and relatively foolproof. But sometimes, when I'm having guests over, I like to guild the lily to make things a little bit more special. When I spotted these Ginger Gems on one of my new favorite blogs, Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit, I knew they'd be perfect for tonight's activities. What's tonight? Well, tonight, we're getting together with friends to play some board games. Ticket to Ride (Europe) and maybe some Settlers of Catan. Betchya didn't know that I was a totally competitive board game geek? Well, the truth is out. I love almost all board games (Monopoly not included) and I love these cookies. You can make them without the glaze, but why bother? Just look how pretty they are under a dazzling white lemony frosting. And that's the plan. I'm sure everyone will be so enthralled with my baking capabilities that they won't even notice just how much I'm kicking their asses!

ginger gems
(from the Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit)
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c vegan margarine, softened
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 T molasses
1 T vanilla extract
1/4 c water
2 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1 c finely chopped walnuts

glaze ingredients:
2 1/4 T lemon juice
1.5 c powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar, margarine, oil, molasses, and vanilla. Mix well and add in the water and ginger and stir well until absorbed. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add your dry ingredients to your wet and mix until completely combined. Add in the chopped walnuts.

2. Drop batter by tablespoon onto a prepared cookie sheet and flatten tops slightly with your fingers. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for 3 minutes before removing from the pan then place on a cooling rack.

3. For the glaze, whisk the lemon juice into the powdered sugar. Dip the top of each completely-cooled cookie into the glaze and return the cookies to the cooling rack until the glaze hardens.