Triple Ginger Cookies

Quite possibly my new favorite, adapted slightly from here.

1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon star anise, finely ground
4 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup molasses
2/3 sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 large egg, well beaten
1 cup crystallized ginger, finely minced
2 limes, zest only

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees - racks in the top and bottom 1/3 of the oven. Line baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper or a silicone mat, combine the 1/2 c sugar and a bit of sea salt in a small bowl, and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, anise, ground ginger, and salt.
Heat the butter in a skillet until it is just barely melted. Stir in the molasses, 2/3c. sugar, and fresh ginger. The mixture should be warm, but not hot at this point, if it is hot to touch let it cool a bit. Whisk in the egg. Now pour this over the flour mixture, add the crystallized ginger (make sure it isn't too clumpy), and lime zest. Stir until just combined.

Scoop out dough in exact, level tablespoons, then tear those pieces half before rolling each 1/2 tablespoon of dough into a ball shape. Roll each ball in sugar/salt 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, get fragrant and crack.

Makes about 4 dozen bite-sized cookies.