Instructions: Cream butter and brown sugar until smooth with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add fresh and powdered ginger, vanilla, flour, baking soda, and salt; mix on low speed until blended.

Gather dough into a ball and flatten slightly. Cover work surface with large piece of parchment paper and sprinkle with flour. Place dough in center, and with a rolling pin, roll out 1/8- to 1/4 inch thick. If dough sticks, sprinkle lightly with more flour. Slide rolled-out dough on its paper onto a large baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour.

Place oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and slide off baking sheet. Line that baking sheet and another one with fresh sheets of parchment. Using a 3 inch biscuit cutter or a cookie cutter shaped like a crescent moon (or another shape), cut out as many cookies as possible, dipping cutter into flour only if dough sticks. Place cookies 1/2 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Press a tiny cube of crystallized ginger near point of moon. Bake cookies one sheet at a time, refrigerating filled baking sheets until baking time. Bake until edges are light golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool, undisturbed, on baking sheet placed on wire rack. Cookies will crisp as they cool. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

China Moon made the cookies tiny, with a 1 1/2 inch cutter, which yields double the amount.

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