A question for you who bake often

[Jenise]

I made some ginger cookies today that called for rolling each cookie in sugar before baking. Too much sweetness for us, so I skipped that step and topped each cookie with sliced almonds. Great taste and effect, but to my dismay the almonds didn't stick too well.

I guess brushing each with egg white would have been an effective 'glue', but I dislike the taste of eggwhite on baked goods. Would a little corn syrup have worked?

Jenise, I would have thought that if you used corn syrup, you'd still get cookies too sweet for your liking ? It might also burn ? Sorry, but I don't have anything to suggest other than flattening the cookies a bit and pushing the almond slices into the dough, which I'm sure you've already tried.

I find sometimes things just don't want to stick, even with egg wash. Can't get caraway seeds to stay on the tops of my bagels, no matter what I do.

Rather than rolling in sugar, what about rolling in flour (or mix of flour and sugar?). Maybe even roll it in ground almonds. Or why not go rustic and skip the rolling stage...

[Jenise]

Ian, I've never rolled a cookie in flour. What would that do for the cookie? Other than some interesting color striations against the cookie's dark brown, I can't picture the benefit, especially toward my goal of getting the almonds to stick.

Jenise
I was assuming the sugar was being used as a way to roll the cookie without it sticking. Rolling using flour is not unusual here and shouldn't impart much in the way of flaovour (perhaps just an enabler to the browning of the cookies). I may of course have been barking up the wrong tree wrt the point of rolling.

If it's getting the almonds to stick, then perhaps make up a sugar/honey solution, mix the almonds in and then apply them? Not sure of the consistency required of the liquid, but I'm guessing too runny would be a waste of time. This might work best by crushing the almonds to make a sort of 'crust'. It does also mean adding that little bit more sweetness.

Stop me if I'm rambling...

regards

Ian

[Jenise]

Ian, in this case, rolling the dough ball in sugar is just a way of putting a sweet crust on the cookie--makes it a bit chewier too. Since I prefer cakey and less sweet, I simply skipped that instruction and opted for the crisp crackle of nuts.

Jenise, try moistening the cookies with a little milk or water before you put the almonds on. That should do it without affecting the taste too much.

Flour will burn. And I think that Celia is right in saying that the corn syrup will be too sweet. I think that it would be even sweeter than the sugar.

rwj