Well, it’s that time of year again! You know, the holiday season that seems to come around faster and faster each year. My Grandma, Mom and I had our annual cookie baking day earlier this week. I just love our tradition; I’ve talked about it once before in my cut out cookies post. I would love to tell you ‘what’ annual cookie baking day occurred this year, but fortunately we’ve been doing it for so long now I’ve lost count! This year was a bit extra special, because my Grandpa spent the day with us too. He was a superb supervisor and photographer! We made four types of cookies to add to thefive additional kinds my Grandma already baked! It’s a busy day and we earn every cookie we taste along the way 🙂 By adding the gingersnap cookie recipe today, you’ll be able to find recipes for all four kinds right here on my blog! The oreo truffles were a new addition this year as requested by my Dad and we always end the day with an easy graham cracker cookie! Although it’s hard to choose one favorite, these gingersnap cookies are definitely at the top of my list! Not only are they perfectly sized with delicious flavor, but they’re also quite easy to make!

First step, mix up your dough. I think I talk about stand mixers every time a post involving baking is published, but for solid reasons (as my brother would say :)) Stand mixers are a baker’s best friend in the kitchen! It’s an investment and well worth the money! Using one for this recipe, you’ll mix shortening, brown sugar, molasses and an egg together before adding in a mixture of flour, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon…yum! You can let your dough chill at this point if you’re planning ahead and not quite ready to bake; even overnight is fine! Once you’re ready to go you simply form balls with the dough, roll them in white sugar and place them on a cookie sheet. Easy peasy!

My biggest tip once you put them in the oven is to watch them closely!! These little cookies like to burn quickly so it’s important to take them out when you see them begin to crack and they look just about done! And yes, we have burnt our fair share of gingersnap cookies over the years. In fact, we’ve come close with the cut outs too. We had a couple tiny trees this year that got pretty browned; our story was we saved them just in time from the forest fire 🙂

As I was about to grab a dinner plate to take a photo of the scrumptious cookies, I had the idea to ask my Grandma if she had any suggestions for a pretty display. I’m so glad I did, because it’s how I found out the story behind this beautiful red Christmas plate. My Great-Grandma (her Mother) used to set it out every Christmas to serve fruitcake. I can’t say I love fruitcake all that much, but I adore such memories and keepsakes like this plate. A quote from the movie Four Christmases ends with “…because there’s nothing more important than family”. It’s a really sweet moment in the movie and those are some of the truest words I know making these baking days times to hold on to! Enjoy the holiday season, friends! Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Now, time to Bake, eat gingersnap cookies and be merry 🙂

Gingersnap (Molasses) Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• sugar, for coating

Instructions:

1. In a stand mixer, combine the shortening, brown sugar, molasses and egg. Cream together to mix well.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon. Gradually add to the stand mixer until all ingredients are well combined and dough has formed.
3. Using a cookie scoop, form dough into small balls, roll each one in a bowl of white sugar and place on a cookie sheet. (we baked a dozen at a time)
4. Bake for 10 minutes, but watch closely to prevent burning. Once the cookies begin to crack and look almost done, remove them from the oven.
5. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack before storing in an airtight container. We keep ours in the freezer and take them out as needed to make cookie plates or just eat 🙂 Enjoy!

As always, thanks for reading!!