Pear and crystallised ginger cookies

This is the same basic recipe as my peach, pecan and cinnamon cookies, but with dried pear and crystallised ginger.  The mixture makes about 30 cookies so if you like you could divide it in half after stage 4 and make two different batches.

Ingredients

8 oz butter, softened

5 oz caster sugar

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

10 oz plain flour

Pinch of salt

1 tsp ground ginger

2 oz dried pears, chopped

2 oz crystallised ginger, chopped

1 oz golden caster sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C and line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
2. Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat together until pale and fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.
4. Sift the flour, salt and ground ginger into the mixture and beat to combine.
5. Add the pears and crystallised ginger and stir to combine.
6. Scoop tablespoons of the dough and roll into balls. 
7. Place the golden caster sugar in a small bowl and roll each dough ball in it to coat with sugar.
8. Place the sugar-coated dough balls onto the baking sheets, spaced well apart.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden.
10. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for a couple of minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.