Growing up, I don’t remember making or decorating gingerbread houses. I recall a single Christmas when we made gingerbread men. We’re more gingersnaps fans in this family than your traditional soft gingerbread. These gingersnaps are spicy but sweet and crunchy yet chewy. They’re a perfect Christmas cookie and add a nice, savory option to your cookie platters. In addition to ginger, they’re loaded with cloves, cinnamon, and molasses.
The dough comes together quickly. You use shortening instead of butter to make sure the flavors of the spices and molasses shine through. Cream those together then fold in your dry ingredients. This dough does not need to be chilled. You’ll form the dough into balls about an inch each (you can make them bigger, but I wouldn’t go any smaller). Then roll them in extra granulated sugar.
From there, you’ll flatten the dough. I like to use the large, flat bottom of a glass (a measuring cup or a highball glass work well). Press down evenly until the gingersnaps are about a quarter inch thick. The edges of dough will crinkle a bit. If you’re feeling crazy, you can sprinkle some more sugar on the flattened cookies. These are also a quick bake. They’re done in 7 or 8 minutes. The gingersnaps will still be a bit chewy on the inside but will crisp up well on the cooling rack.
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Gingersnaps
- Total Time: 23
- Yield: 3 dozen 1x
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup of shortening
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup of light molasses
- 1 beaten egg
- 2 cups of flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground cloves
- 3/4 tsp. ginger
- Extra sugar
Instructions
- Cream shortening and sugar together until fully.
- Add molasses and egg and beat until incorporated.
- Stir in flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. The dough will be sticky.
- Form into 1 inch balls and roll in extra sugar.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 8
My Mom always made gingersnaps, they are one of my favorite cookies! 🙂
I’ve never made gingersnaps, always gingerbread, but this sounds delicious and easy. Will have to try my hand at these sometime. 🙂