Soft Gingersnaps

It's almost Christmas, so I decided to get into the cookie-baking mood!! And I'm not talking place and bakes here. That's what I do the other 11 months of the year. No...this time of year, I want my soft chewy gingersnaps! All the ginger, none of the snap. Perfect!

A guy I dated my freshman year in college was pretty unspectacular in every way EXCEPT his mother made THE BEST soft gingersnap cookies I have ever tasted. And although she didn't really like me that much, because she had a really creepy Electra complex and was secretly in love with her son (at least that's what I told myself), she made them for me a few times and I will never forget how delicious they were.

Sadly, this is NOT her recipe. I'm sure she keeps it under lock and key and her gingersnap recipe, although amazingly fantastic, certainly wasn't worth marrying her son. So, I'm making do this Christmas with the following recipe...don't worry, though, they are still pretty good...Ryan has already eaten about 5!

SOFT GINGERSNAPS
From Shawn Barto, www.allrecipes.com
Yield: 66 cookies (more or less)

1 1/2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 t baking soda
2 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1 t ground cloves
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground nutmeg
Additional sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and nutmeg; gradually add to creamed mixture. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.

Roll into 1-in balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes * or until puffy and lightly browned. Cool on baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to wire cooling racks.

YUM!

* When I am making 2 sheets of these, I leave the top sheet in for 8 minutes and then let the cookies stay on the sheet for 1 extra minute after I take them out. The bottom sheet stays in for 9 minutes but I still give those the extra minute on the sheet after they are out. After the extra minute, I remove them from the sheet and place them on cooling racks. My oven runs hot, but I would think that if you leave these in the oven any longer than 9 minutes you are going to start getting crunchy cookies...if that's what you like, great...but since this is a recipe for SOFT gingersnaps, it's probably not what you're looking for! :)