Chewy Gingersnaps

This week I had a dilemma. I needed a treat to bring to a get together, and I refused to go store bought, even though I didn't have a whole lot of time to bake. I looked around for an easy yet holiday-themed recipe, and found these chewy gingersnaps on the Real Simple website. My buddy Leslie was always in love with their site and magazine, and although I was always impressed with what she showed me, I never got very into them. Now I'm going to add them to my "go-to" list for recipe sites. These were super good and, well, real simple.






Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup granulated or coarse decorating sugar


Preheat your oven to 350.

Begin by mixing together flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cloves in a bowl and set aside. If you want to make a face like I do, go for it. Why not add to the fun, right? These were literally cookies made with a smile.







In a separate bowl, beat your brown sugar and butter together until light and fluffy on med-high (about 3 minutes).

*Tip: If you forget to let your butter come to room temperature or it hasn't been out quite long enough, let it sit on your oven while it's pre-heating. Keep an eye on it though, as you don't want it to be too soft or melted!

Add the eggs, oil and molasses. Beat until combined.

With your mixer on low, gradually add your flour mixture. Don't over mix! I had a bit of flour on the bottom of the bowl that my mixer wasn't grabbing, so I missed it in with my rubber spatula instead.

Spread the sugar out on a plate. Roll the dough into balls about 1 1/2 " (about 2 Tbs) and then roll in the sugar. Put on a non-greased baking sheet, about 3" apart.

Bake at 350 for about 18 minutes, rotating half way through.

Allow to sit on baking sheets for a couple of minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Now share and enjoy!

Happy holiday baking!