Christmas Treats: Idea #3

Everyone loves a good "chewy on the inside, crisp on the outside" cookie. These gingersnap cookies were very easy to make and my whole apartment smelled like Christmas! This is a good recipe to have in your arsenal for the holiday season. Enjoy!

Grandma's Gingersnap Cookies (not my Grandma, but someone else's...)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup shortening (I substituted with unsalted butter)

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup dark molasses

1/3 cup cinnamon sugar (white sugar + cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Sift the four, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir the mixture to blend evenly, and sift a second time into another bowl.

Place the shortening (or butter) into a mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Gradually beat in the white sugar. Beat in the egg and dark molasses. Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture into the shortening mixture; stir to thoroughly blend. Sift in the remaining flour mixture, and mix together until a soft dough forms. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll into 1 inch diameter balls between your hands. Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar, and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake in the oven until tops are rounds and slightly cracked, about 10 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Note: This recipe is absolutely delicious and very easy to put together! I had to go to a few different stores to find the dark molasses, but finally found it at Von's near the corn syrup. All of the other ingredients are things you probably already have in your pantry.

To gift these, I found cute round holiday tins at Michael's ($1.00 each) that fit 3 cookies each. I also packaged them by putting 2 cookies in a clear plastic treat bag with a little bit of shredded red & green filler paper.