Since I’m a cooking newbie, I figured I’d start with something easy to build my confidence. I had never had gingersnaps from scratch before, so here goes:

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 c.) of butter or margarine
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 c. molasses
  • 2 c. flour
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. cloves
  • 1 tsp. ginger
  • 2 tsp. baking soda

Directions

  1. Mix together the sugar, butter, egg, and molasses.
  2. Sift the spices, flour, and baking soda.
  3. Mix the two mixtures together.
  4. I like to let the dough sit for a couple minutes now - it makes it easier to work with.
  5. Take the dough and form into a 1-2 inch ball.
  6. Dip one side of dough into sugar. Some recipes say to roll the whole thing, but I find I get sugar overload. One side is good enough.
  7. Bake 350° for 15-18 minutes if 2-inch balls, 13-15 minutes if 1-inch. This gives you softer gingersnaps. For crispier gingersnaps, leave in oven until they are nearly (but not quite) firm to the touch.

Obviously the quantity will vary based on cookie size, but if you make 2-inch balls, it’s about 24 cookies.

Yum!