I will confess a bit of a love-hate relationship with Ginger Snaps. Ginger Snaps are very divisive. You know how they say that it is not wise to discuss religion or politics in mixed company… well I would add Ginger Snaps to this list. The center of the debate is texture. Should they be crunchy or soft. This is no small matter. I have no proof but at some point I think someone might have lost their life in this debate. Not like crusades type crazy, but crazy none the less.
I love the flavor of Ginger Snaps, regardless of the crispness. But I will confess to being more in favor of a chewy Ginger Snap, as opposed to its crunchier friend. In my personal attempts to achieve the perfect Ginger Snap cookie the ideal recipe has been elusive… until now!
A friend shared this recipe with me and finally I have a version of Ginger Snaps that I would feel good about bringing to a family party or holiday gathering. It has a slightly crispy outer layer with a soft inside (if it is baked correctly). I believe it will either bridge the polarized tension in the Ginger Snap world (crispy vs. chewy), or it may just make no one happy but me.
Since I’m not aiming for world peace, just a tasty cookie, either way at least me and my family are settled on this recipe as the best Ginger Snap cookies ever. Among my kids the divisive debate about the two styles of cookies has bridged itself and harmony was created when universally it was decided this was a superior cookie.
The trick here is all about timing in the oven. To get the crisp exterior and soft interior proved to require a bit of tweaking as we baked. The first batch worked out great with the times provided. The second batch we did for the same time period but because the baking sheet was already warm or perhaps because the oven was heated more thoroughly the second batch came out to hard (for my liking). So the next batch we just reduced the amount of time in the oven by about three minutes. That maintained the textural consistency that made these so enjoyable. Happy holidays, and I hope that with these little beauties you can appease the debating masses… or maybe even a bit of world peace.
And Thanks again to the dearest friend that shared this amazing recipe with me.
Ginger
24+
Ingredients
1 Cup Sugar
3/4 cup Shortening
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
extra sugar for rolling
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Cream together Sugar, Shortening, egg, and molasses in mixer
- In another bowl sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger
- On low speed gradually add flour mixture to creamed sugar mixture. gradually turn it and and mix well
- Roll dough into about 2 inch balls and roll in extra sugar.
- Place on prepared cookie sheet and allow room to spread a little ( you will be able to fit about 12 cookies to a sheet)
- bake for about 12 minutes the first batch ( the next batches are about 9 minutes since the pan is already hot and so is the oven)
- remove and let cool on a cooling rack
- if you would like a chewer cookie have the oven at 375 F and cook for about 7 minutes
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Little Mischief's Adventures 
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