Ginger Cookies
My mom regularly made these cookies when I was growing up. I loved the extra sugar sprinkles on top and the way each bite seemed to melt in your mouth. This recipe originally called for shortening but because I have a deep love for butter, I made some adjustments to the recipe to accommodate my love. These cookies have so much spicy goodness that I find they are best cooked and eaten bite-sized. I encourage you to make these if you have teenagers who have been spending too much time glued to a screen in some far-off place in your house. They won’t be able to resist the smell and will eventually find their way to the kitchen, at which point you can try to engage them as you pass over a few cookies. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Teenagers are funny little creatures.
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulatedsugar
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, cream together your butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl for about 3 minutes. Add your egg and mix until completely incorporated with your butter and sugar. Stir in your molasses.
Reduce your speed to low, and slowly add in your dry ingredients just until combined.
Drop teaspoon-sized balls of dough an inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle the tops with a bit of extra sugar for sparkle. Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will flatten and crackle on top. Pull from oven and let sit on sheet for a minute. Move cookies to cooling rack. Eat warm. Eat cold. Enjoy!
YIELD: 2 dozen, give or take
aww.. yumm! and look at your with your big bad voodoo daddy camera self! rock on sister.. preach it!!! you done good.
huggles and happy thanksgiving!
Thank you my dear Heaven…you talented pro you…
Thanks for the great tips and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! My best tip for chapped lips is Aquaphor healing ointment. There’s nothing better, and it’s great for any chafing on the face.
Thank you, thank you, Kim, for the tip (so nice to have my own personal pharmacist 🙂 )….I have not tried Aquaphor but will do so as soon as I can get to a store. Poor little guy and his chapped lips….
really titled ‘Betty Crocker Cooky Book’? 🙂
as always, impressed and thankful.
~Elise
Yep…really, Betty Crocker Cooky Book. They didn’t have spell check back in the old days.
http://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crockers-Cooky-Crocker-Editors/dp/0764566377
Carrie, love the family pictures! Having the tip session previously with you, I can vouch for them! The lighting makes all the difference. Now, if the light is good, I run outside with whatever needs a picture – last week it was a Thanksgiving place setting! Also, thanks for sharing the equipment list. Happy Thanksgiving.
You are so welcome and I’m glad the tips are working for you, my friend. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!
PS: I really enjoyed your post on the Thanksgiving place settings. Your talent knows no end.
Yum the cookies look gorgeous and delicious. I love natural light. One question, the pic of young padawan ; ) how did you get the background white like that..often I also notice it looks like people have black backgrounds for their food photography. Hope you had a wonderful day!
Hello dear Sheila, Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! As for the white background….I have a hallway with white molding…you know the kind, halfway up the wall…the name escapes me right now…anyhow, when I use a shallow depth of field (by using a low aperture setting) the wainscoting (I remembered the name) blurs making it look like a white background. Sometimes it works better than others. As for the black…I’m not sure. Cheers my friend!
thanks! I will give it a try!
Hi Carrie,
I really loved reading your photography tips – that is one thing that I have always wanted to learn more about – I keep saying “some day”. Also, completely agree with your tip about not using a flash – I often have the perfect shot lined up lightwise and then that darn flash pops up! Need to remember to turn it off right away! Enjoy our holidays…
Thanks so much for stopping by Krysty! So good to know the photography tips were helpful. Happy Holidays!!