I wonder how many recipes there are for ginger snaps? Millions? Here’s mine and I hope you love it.
Richard is dropping by and he’s requested my ginger snap recipe, so now he’ll have the recipe plus a nice box of cookies to take back to school. These ginger snaps keep and mail well, so if you have a special someone out of town, make a batch and send them. What a happy surprise!
Ginger snaps are our absolute favorite and I’ve tinkered around with my recipe for years until it’s exactly the cookie we like, extra gingery and crispy enough to “snap” when you break them in half. Perfection! It’s a good day to whip up a batch and hope the snow flurries pile up into “real snow.” I have a friend who makes the most fabulous chocolate chip cookies every time we have snow. I’m hoping my ginger snaps will work their own magic and make the snow stick.
Because so many recipes exist there are a lot of variations in the ingredient lists. Some people add cinnamon, which I think ruins the whole thing. I discovered that cardamom just makes the cookies pop with taste, but probably could find several people who disagree. Almost every recipe I’ve ever seen includes molasses, which has such a distinctive taste, but the sugar differs from white to light brown to dark brown. My favorite thing about my recipe is that I throw in a bit of fresh ginger plus dry ground ginger so these cookies really have that ginger bite.
One final thought: I wish you could smell my house right now. If anything smells better than ginger snaps in the oven, I’ve yet to find it. What a happy and yummy way to spend a snowy Sunday afternoon.
Ingredients
1½ sticks butter, softened (did that in the microwave)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses *see note for a handy trick
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
2 cups flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp dry ground ginger
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl combine brown sugar and butter and beat at low speed about 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add egg, fresh ginger, and molasses and beat for 1 minute at low speed to combine.
In another large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. (You don’t have to, but it sure makes clean-up easier and I like the way the cookies never stick.)
Drop heaping teaspoons of batter about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes depending on how crispy you like your cookies. They firm up a bit as they cool.
Cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet then move to wire racks or waxed paper to cool completely.
Makes 2 ½ dozen
*When you have to measure sticky wet ingredients like honey or molasses, spray your measuring cup with cooking spray first and the sticky stuff will pour out easily.
Countess Cookie waiting for cookies...
