I love: holiday baking. I hate: holiday dishes. A lot of cookie recipes call for multiple bowls, mixers, tools, and pans, which result in lovely cookies and a very un-lovely kitchen sink. That’s why I’m a fan of these ginger brownie buttons: They require very few tools and no complicated gadgets (and the ingredients are just about as simple) but they’re no less impressive or tasty once they’re on the table. The ginger adds a spice to the chocolate that makes them way better than those chunks of plain chocolate fudge your Mom used to make, and because they’re made in miniature muffin tins, they also bake quickly and are far less messy than a traditional brownie bar.

If you’re sick of doing dishes and want a cookie that can be done in less than one hour, try these Brownie Buttons (and don’t forget to check out our other 12 days of Christmas Cookie Recipes):

Butter, chocolate, and as few dishes as possible: What else do you need?

Just add the egg, vanilla, and ginger into the pot. No extra dishes needed.

Be sure not to stir the batter too much after adding the flour, or you'll end up with rubbery brownie buttons.

Put the mini-cupcake tins on a cookie sheet with a silpat liner - it will ensure that the brownies don't tilt on the oven rack, cook evenly from top to bottom.

Dorie Greenspan's recipe instructs that you "carefully release" the buttons. I prefer to just dump them onto a cooling rack and call it done.

Brownies are done, and so are the dishes.

Ginger Brownie Buttons With White Chocolate Glaze

adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 ounces white chocolate
2-3 tablespoons chopped candied ginger

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Center a rack in the oven an preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter two miniature muffin pans, each with a dozen cups, and place them on a baking sheet lined with silpat.

2. Combine the grated ginger and sugar in a small bowl and rub together to blend; set aside.

3. Melt the butter, chocolate and brown sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over ery low heat, stirring frequently with a heatproof spatula and keeping an eye on the pan so nothing overheats or burns. When the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and cool for a minute or two.

4. Add the vanilla, egg, and ginger-sugar mixture into the chocolate. When the mixture is well blended, add the flour and stir only until it’s incorporated (over-stirring leads to rubbery brownies).

5. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, using a generous teaspoon of batter to fill each cup three-quarters full. Put 1 teaspoon of water in each empty cup. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the tops of hte buttons spring back when touched. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 3 minutes before carefully releasing the buttons. Cool to room temperature on the rack.

6. Melt the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir constantly and don’t leave the chocolate for even a minute – white chocolate scorches easily. As soon as the chocolate is smooth, remove from the heat.

7. Dip the tops of the buttons into the chocolate, one at a time, twirling the buttons so that you get a little swirl at the center of each one and the excess chocolate drips back into the bowl. sprinkle with a tiny portion of the candied ginger for decoration, and refrigerate buttons for 15 minutes to set the glaze.

photos: Briana Rognlin