Gingersnaps

(adapted from Sheila Lukins, All Around the World Cookbook 522 (1994))

I love ginger. It's in my (Korean) blood. Here's my ever-evolving recipe for gingersnaps with some real bite.

ingredients

  • 12 T. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted (sweet) butter
  • 1/4 c. molasses
  • 1 t. vanilla extract
  • 2 c. flour
  • 3/4 c. sugar, plus extra for rolling
  • 2 t. baking soda
  • 2 t. (2 or 3 sticks) freshly ground cinnamon (if you don't have a spice mill, grind cinnamon sticks in a well-cleaned coffee mill--break the sticks into small pieces first)
  • 1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg (whole nutmeg can be grated using a fine-holed grater, like the ones some nice restaurants use to grate fresh parmesan at your table)
  • 3 cloves, ground in a spice mill (or coffee mill)
  • 1/4 t. salt
  • 2 t. minced fresh ginger (see Spicy Peanut Sauce for prep tips)
  • 2 t. minced candied ginger
  • 1 large, lightly beaten egg

instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Melt butter in a saucepan. Remove from heat, and mix in molasses and vanilla. Let cool.
  3. Sift all dry indredients together. If there are significant chunks of cinnamon or cloves that won't go through the sifter, regrind those and sift into the dry mix.
  4. Once the butter mixture has cooled, stir the egg into it (the mixture should be cool enough to keep the egg from cooking).
  5. Stir ginger and candied ginger into the butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in the dry mixture. Combine well. Cover and refrigerate until firm (about 1/2 an hour).
  6. Fill a shallow dish with sugar. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls, then roll in sugar until covered. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
  7. Bake for 10 minutes--until the bottoms of the cookies are just brown. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully.
Makes about sixty cookies.
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