Cookies are my favorite food group. I am a cookie snob and am constantly looking for that perfect round handheld orb of delight: a wee bit crispy on the outside and ever so slightly under baked inside, for that chewy texture with your first bite. Over baked cookies are such a waste of calories!

Growing up in my Mennonite home, I made these spicy gingersnaps as a teenager. And then like childhood toys, I forgot about them and didn’t look at the recipe for four decades. The autumnal scent of cinnamon, ginger and cloves jarred my memory, and these molasses ginger cookies made a guest appearance in my kitchen. I had forgotten that smell when you pull them freshly baked from the oven! It is autumn and Thanksgiving and Christmas, woven together in a three strand braid.

The cookies are nice and sturdy so you can package them to mail, pass them out to friends, or arrange them neatly in rows in a large tupperware, and freeze them, to be brought out whenever your own personal cookie monster rears its head. I hope that you’ll bake a batch soon.

Molasses Ginger Cookies

1 1/2 c. shortening (you can use butter, but the finished cookie won’t have the same texture)

2/3 c. white sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. molasses

2 large eggs

4 c. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

4 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cloves

extra white sugar for rolling the dough balls in

Cream together the shortening, sugars, and molasses, until smooth and light. Beat in the eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and spices. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Mix until combined; refrigerate the dough for at least two hours or overnight.

Form the dough into balls, the size of walnuts. Roll them in white sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet pan. (I used about 1/2 cup white sugar and added a heaping tablespoon of turbinado sugar, for extra crunch. Plain white sugar is fine as well). Bake on convection bake 350 degrees for 9 minutes. For regular bake, I would try 375 degrees for 10 minutes. When you remove the cookies from the oven, they will still be puffy, but will quickly settle down, highlighting those glorious wrinkles with tiny sparkles of sugar tucked inside. Remove from baking sheet and let cool on parchment paper (or as we did in the dark ages, cut open a brown paper grocery bag to line the counter for cooling cookies). Makes 6 1/2 dozen cookies.