Gingersnaps

And.... the Holiday season is now in FULL FORCE. I have a small Christmas tree up, greeting cards are being filled out, Pumping Iron is in the DVD player... (wait a minute).

But I love this time year. It's like a last hurrah to get together with friends, and there is something crisp and special in the air. Who doesn't love cookie exchanges, Bad Santa type exchanges, and a good snowball fight? I won't have any snow this year (for once), but I think it's going to be a really welcome change. All you need is the right state of mind :)

I decided to kick things off with one of my favorite cookies... the super awesome Gingersnap. Now, before we get rolling, there's a minor controversy here. That is...

To snap or not to snap?

Some people like chewy gingerBREAD type cookies, and others like the hard, whoops I just got crumbs on my shirt SNAPS. Which are you? Is it possible to dig both?

While one of my personal favorite cookies are called Hermit Cookies, which are chewy, I think ginger cookies should be snaps. Yup. Crusty and messy.

So after looking at a couple of recipes for cookies that tended to be too soft for my liking, I found one that looked promising. Simple, a good amount of molasses, and crumbs in the picture. We have a winner here, folks :)


Gingersnaps Recipe
Taken from The Kitchn... I like this site

Makes about 75 cookies (but I got like 50 cause I make them larger- AB)

-1 cup sugar
-3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
-1 egg
-1/3 cup molasses
-2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
-2 teaspoons baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon ground ginger
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon cloves
-1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

By hand or in a mixer, combine the sugar and butter. Add the egg and mix until the egg is completely combined. Stir in the molasses.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and all the spices. Whisk these dry ingredients to make sure everything is evenly distributed, then pour it on top of the wet ingredients. Use a folding motion to gently combine the wet and dry ingredients. Continue until no more flour is visible.

Turn on the oven to 375° and refrigerate the gingersnap dough while the oven is preheating.

When the oven is hot, measure out rounded teaspoons of dough. Roll the dough between your hands to shape tablespoon balls. Position the balls about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the cookies have puffed and collapsed back on themselves.

Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Store cookies in an airtight container.

Now, I couple of notes about these cookies. First, don't overbake... but come CLOSE. The instructions talk about the cookies puffing up, and THEN sinking is soooo right. You want that. The house will smell of awesome cloves and ginger, and they will look almost black, and that's what you want. Take them out, let them cool for a minute or two, and then on the rack.

If you want kinda chewy cookies, you can eat them that day. However, if you want Snapable cookies, you need to store them and eat them over the next couple days. Don't worry, they keep super well. I was eating them for almost a week afterwards... what can I say, 50 cookies is alot :)

I hope all of your ovens are still in good working order, with the huge influx of awesome sweets being made this holiday. I'm going to be busy these next few weeks, so I want to wish you the most awesome of holiday seasons. Enjoy yourselves, and let loose this month. Come next year, you can get back on the health and diet horse :)

Comments

Ivy said…
Love your gingersnaps. I also prefer them hard an crispy. Enjoy your holidays and see you next year :)
LizNoVeggieGirl said…
That's one of my favorite holiday cookie varieties!! :)
LOL if you want hard cookies let them sit. Gee Adam you give such excellent advice. You so need your own cooking show.
LOL! you crack me up
Astra Libris said…
Happy Holidays!!! :-) I'm glad you approved of the pranksters in our house... :-)

Your gingersnaps look SO awesome! I LOVE gingersnaps! I can just imagine how heavenly your kitchen smells... :-)
I'm doing a "bad santa" this year for the first time! I'm so excited. We were calling it "Chinese Christmas" at first, but I decided we should make it more politically correct. Now we're calling it "dirty santa!"

So are these snaps as snappy as Murrays??? And by that I mean hard as a rock?
Gingersnaps are one of my favorite. I go with a somewhat chewy version probably from the artery clogging shortening I use (the only time of year I ever buy shortening.)
Maria said…
I made gingersnaps tonight:) My recipe is similar. I will post them soon. I like them soft and chewy. I always take them out early, even if they don't look done. I know they harden up:) I can't believe the holidays are here. I can't wait to see what else you will be baking!
Cyndy said…
Great Post Adam.

Love Gingersnaps, but it depends on the mood i'm as to whether I want them soft or crisp. I lean more to crisp than soft.
Adam, thanks for posting this recipe. Ginger Snaps are my hubby's favorite cookie. They're the ones that remind him of his mom. I'll surrise him with these this week. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Big hugs.
Steph said…
These are probably the only spiced sweet that I like! I've heard about the hermit cookies, but haven't had the chance to try them yet. I like both, the snap and chewy. It's hard to get the perfect texture though without having them come out too raw. Holiday season again! I can't believe everything is happening so soon!
YOu want to know what's weird? I'm not a spice dessert kind of person and don't like gingerbread cakes, but give me a gingersnap and I'm all over it! Something about the consistency of the spice with a hard cookie that just gets me going. Gingersnaps also make excellent pie crusts!
I love any cookies with spices. Gingerbread, molasses etc. These looks super.
Pam said…
Adam, I think they look tasty. There is nothing better than a warm gingersnap cookie dipped in ice cold milk. Mmmm.
theUngourmet said…
I love gingersnaps! This does look like a great recipe. Love the photos!
Unknown said…
do you have a recipe for hermits? i've never had them... although i think i would love them :) in the mean time i should give gingersnaps another chance...

50 cookies is alot!
Maggie said…
Great looking cookies! I never understood the appeal of crisp ginger cookies, since my mom made the chewy kind, but my mother in law gave me a tin of similar cookies last year and I loved them. Would it be too crazy to make both?
Velva said…
Ginger snap cookies are addictive-You can never just eat a dozen :-)
Chris, as always, a great blog post.
hungryandfrozen said…
Yum! These cookies sound so good. Although mollasses isn't a particularly common ingredient here in NZ but golden syrup could be a good substitute.

No snow here this Christmas...it'll be summer :)
Thistlemoon said…
Those snaps look so good! My favorite cookies! I am not ready for the holiday bustle yet. I like a little time between Thanksgiving and the winter holidays (including my birthday!). But in about 2 weeks, I will be decking the halls with you!
Kerstin said…
I like both! I realized I have 3 different types of ginger cookies at work right now. Two different types from Trader Joe's and one from a bakery. I really need to make my own! Yours look perfect!!
miss v said…
this is going to weird you out, but i've never had gingersnaps before. how un-american of me.
Barbara said…
Love gingersnaps. I have a great recipe that uses butter pecan ice cream in between two homemade gingersnaps. It's a killer recipe, you can keep them in the freezer and everyone loves them. Your recipe would be perfect to use.
Clumbsy Cookie said…
Yep, you can dig both! Well, I do. I can never make up my mind, chewy, snappy... very hard decisions! I love to bake cookies with spices, the smell makes me soooooooo happy :)
CookiePie said…
LOVE gingersnaps - yours look great!!
Emily said…
They look perfect! I love gingesnaps! And yeah, fifty cookies is a ton. Wow....
Chibog in Chief said…
they definitely look awesome!! i'll finishe 'em up in few snaps :-)

i love this time of the year too, this season wakes up all the child in me :-)
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Megan said…
I think a gingersnap should be hard and crisp. That's just my 2 cents worth! ;)
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ooh that sounds like a good station, and I am embarrassed to say I owned the NKOTB Christmas cassette, yes i did.
great recipe!
I love this recipe Adam, would be perfect for ginger house! :)
I was lazy this year and we made house from ready biscuits... We made also Polish no-bake cheesecake in case you are interested.

Happy New Year! :)

Margot