mom & gingersnaps

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. I spent the day with my amazing mom who I must say is just the best! She is not only the sweetest lady you will ever meet, she is also incredibly talented. Always the perfect hostess, she taught me how to cook, bake and how enjoying good food brings people together. She always let me set the table (my favorite part), sneak bits of cookie dough and chop up any pieces of fabric (even tablecloths or sheets) for my latest clothing design. I hope someday I am half the lady she is. Here's to Mom!

Since my mom is a fabulous baker, it fits perfectly that my latest endeavor was cookies. Described as a "chewy, spicy cookie," gingersnaps are one of my absolute favorites. This recipe comes again from the aging yellow The New Pillsbury Family Cookbook (a gift from Mom, actually).

Gingersnaps

Preheat oven to 350. Cream 1 cup sugar (I do 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. white sugar) and 3/4 cup shortening or margarine, softened (I do 1/2 c. butter, 1/4 c. oil).

Beat in 1/4 cup molasses and 1 egg. (I used my adorable Anthropologie measuring bowls which are decidedly less functional than a regular measuring cup but 100 times cuter!)

Stir in 2 cups unsifted Pillsbury flour (I do 1 c. wheat flour, 1 c. white flour), 2 teaspoons soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. And of course, add in the spices: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger. Stir until well mixed.

At this point you can chill the dough for a bit in the fridge if you want to make handling it easier.

When it's sufficiently chilled, shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll them in white sugar. I always use a cookie scoop-I don't have to get my hands messy and the cookies all come out nice and uniform. Place the sugared balls of dough 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. The recipe says to grease the sheets but I never do and the cookies come off just fine.

Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until edges are set (I do about 10 minutes). The recipe also says that it yields about 48 cookies but my scoop must be a bit too big because I get closer to 35.