Gingerbread

• 2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour, or 2 cups unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon each cloves and nutmeg
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup diced crystallized ginger (optional)

Grease and flour a 9" square pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.  Melt the butter in a heatproof measuring cup. Add the molasses to the cup, and pour into the dry ingredients in the bowl, mixing to moisten.  Add the water, stirring until everything is moistened.  Whisk together the egg and buttermilk. Stir into the batter until it's evenly combined. Stir in the crystallized ginger. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cake just begins to pull away from the edge of the pan. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes before slicing; gingerbread is best served warm with whipped cream or ice cream. 

Serves 16; 170 calories.

VERDICT:  Easy (no creaming butter!) and pretty decent.  I only have an 8x8 pan, so I ended up cooking it a bit longer than indicated, but it seems to have turned out OK.  I'd be inclined to leave out the ginger in future--I like ginger as much as the next person, but it seemed a little much.  Keep.