Kim’s Gingersnaps

 

Here’s another cookie recipe that’s a family tradition during the holidays, but we enjoy them at any time of the year. A tiny few in our family prefer them baked until crispy. Most of us, however, like them soft inside. Gingersnap or gingersoft—your choice. This recipe has been adjusted a bit from my mother’s original recipe.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients For Making Gingersnaps

 

• 1½ sticks butter
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
• 1 large egg
• 2¼ cups all-purpose unbleached flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon—I use just a bit more of the ginger, cloves, and cinnamon for extra “warmth”. Mix these 6 dry ingredients together in a bowl.
• Very fine sugar in a separate bowl, for coating formed cookie dough

 

 

 

 

The Process

 

• Mix butter and white sugar in the large bowl of a stand mixer. Don’t over-mix it.
• Add the molasses. Mix well, scraping with spatula.
• Add egg, and mix.
• Gradually add and mix in the flour-spice mixture. Scrape with spatula.
• After it’s all mixed together, refrigerate the covered dough for at least a couple of hours.
• Preheat oven to 375°F or a little lower.
• Line 1 or 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Now that the dough is cool, spoon out enough dough to make a 1″ diameter ball. Roll it between the palms of your hands to form a sphere. Place balls, in batches, in the very fine sugar to coat. Roll them around and/or spoon the fine sugar over the dough.
• Place on cookie sheets, about 3″ on center, and bake for about 8 minutes. They might need less time or a minute more, depending on your oven. In this electric oven, I put a pyrex dish of water over the “hot spot”, and bake one large and one small cookie sheet at a time. To avoid hot spots, perhaps baking one sheet at a time will work better.
• Lay the gingersnaps out on the wax-paper-covered counter to cool somewhat. If they’re placed in cookie tins before they have fully cooled, they will stay a little softer. It takes almost no time to go from soft and luscious to crispy, so watch them carefully while baking and while cooling.
• Wrap cooled cookies in foil and a plastic bag to freeze the excess.

 

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When Brynn and Logan were little, I shaped some of the dough into gingerbread men, just for them. A little ginger, by the way, can settle an upset stomach and makes me feel just a bit warmer. How do you like them—crispy or soft? Either way, enjoy!

 

 

 

Here are links to more of Kim’s dessert recipes:

Toffee Cookies

Almond Crescents

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

 

 

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