Description
The recipe was originally given to me by Memphis novelist Cary Holliday.
These aren't fancy Christmas cookies but their flavor profile is fabulous around the holidays.
The best beverage pairing is a glass of cold milk or a Guinness beer.
Makes 3 dozen. Fewer if you have "helpers" in the kitchen.
- Beth Ann Fennelly
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 g)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp fine-grain salt (like table or sea salt)
- 1 cup sugar (200 g)
- ¾ cup shortening (144 g)
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup molasses (not blackstrap)
- Granulated sugar, for coating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and shortening. Add the egg and molasses and beat until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then, with the mixer on low speed, add in the flour mixture and blend until just combined.
- Roll the dough into balls and coat with sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and lightly flatten with a fork or the bottom of a small glass. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, until the centers appear set. Let cookies cool on the pan for ~3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- You may think one full teaspoon of cloves would be wildly overpowering. I sure did, and almost cut back on the amount even before trying. But, follow the recipe! The cloves blend surprisingly well with the other spices helping to create the cookie's namesake snappiness.
- I used my go-to 1.5 TB oxo scoop to form the cookies and got a bit of a smaller yield (~20 cookies total) - alas, without any helpers. 😉
- For extra texture and sugary sparkle, I like to roll the cookies in turbinado sugar.
- You really can bake these cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet (it does, though, help to use an offset spatula to release them from the pan). But if dubious, you can also successfully bake the cookies on a sheet of parchment paper.
- The shortening helps the cookies hold their picture-perfect shape and creates an addictively crispy edge with a soft middle. But if you prefer baking with butter, these Pass-Along Molasses Cookies are deliciously similar (but do need to be refrigerated before baking).
Keywords: Gingersnaps, Gingersnap Cookies, Molasses Cookies, Christmas Cookies, Holiday Cookies, Beth Ann Fennelly, Heating & Cooling, Poet Laureate