Recipe courtesy of Nick Malgieri

Incredibly Crisp Gingersnaps

  • Yield: about 40 cookies
  • Total: 55 min
  • Prep: 35 min
  • Cook: 20 min
In 1998, I was invited by Pat Adrian, director of the Good Cook division of the Book of the Month Club, to judge the group's annual office baking contest. There were luscious cakes, pies and cookies of all types, but these gingersnaps were the hands-down winners. Julie Ellis-Clayton, the winner of the contest, was kind enough to share her recipe with me.
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Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup sugar in a shallow bowl, for finishing

Directions

Special equipment:
2 or 3 cookie sheets or jelly roll pans covered with parchment or foil
  1. Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl; stir well to mix. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together on medium speed the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until very light, fluffy and whitened. Add the egg and continue beating until smooth. Lower speed and beat in half the dry ingredients, then the molasses. Stop the mixer and scrape down bowl and beater. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients. Remove bowl from mixer and use a large rubber spatula to finish mixing the dough. Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop out 1-inch diameter pieces of dough. Roll into balls between the palms of your the hands, then roll in the sugar. Place the balls of dough on the prepared pans leaving about 3 inches all around each, to allow for spreading. Bake the cookies for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until they have spread, the surface has crackled, and they are firm to the touch. Slide the papers from the pans to racks. Store the cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or waxed paper in a tin or platic container witha tight-fitting cover.

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Anonymous

I cannot tell you how many times I have made these cookies for my husband. He absolutely LOVES them. My only issue with this recipe is that the recipe states it will make about 40 cookies, but I do good to get 26 cookies. I have used a 1 tablespoon scoop to scoop the dough out, as well as a scoop that is about 1/2 tablespoon. What I wound up doing is putting all of the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap, and I shape it into a log. Then I put it in the refrigerator to allow it to get nice and cold. When I pull the dough log out of the refrigerator and unwrap it, I use a sharp chef's knife to slice the log into 2 parts length wise, and then I slice it into individual slices. I lay the slices of dough on my parchment lined half sheet pan. I sprinkle a cinnamon sugar blend over the top of the slices and bake them in a 350 degree F oven for 17 minutes for the first pan, and I make another pan ready to go in as soon as the first pan comes out. I set that timer for 16 minutes. I get about 32 cookies with this method. My husband says that the texture of the cookies now reminds him of a speculaas cookie from his home country of the Netherlands. That is an incredible compliment!

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