My sister made them back in October for her Stella & Dot show, and I couldn't stop eating them! She was sweet enough to send over the recipe, but I've waited until the holiday season to make them so that I can fully appreciate how truly yummy they are! (And so I can share the yum with friends and family!)
The recipe is easily doubled, but I got 33 small-ish cookies out of this batch (and a couple of big ones that I'm already calling dibs on)! Here's what you'll need:
2 3/4 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp (what I call a "pinch") salt
3/4 c. shortening (seriously, just get the Crisco. It MAKES these cookies!)
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c molasses
extra sugar for rolling cookies before baking
optional: hershey kisses (for a little extra something sweet, but only if you want)
To make these:
In a large mixing bow, beat the shortening on low for 30 seconds. Then add in sugar and beat until combined (be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl!).
Add in the eggs and molasses and beat until combined. {BTW, am I the only person that thinks molasses smells absolutely horrible? Oh, I'm not? Glad to know we all agree that molasses stinks!}
In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Beat the flour mixture into the egg/shortening mixture until combined.
Next, shape dough into 1 inch balls, and roll them in the extra sugar. {P.s. I have a problem with washing my hands while I cook in that I do it WAY too much. So the process for taking this picture went a little like this: wash hands; shape dough; roll dough in sugar; wash hands; take picture of dough ball in sugar bowl; wash hands; put dough ball on cookie sheet. *WHEW* And this is why there aren't a ton of "during" pictures when I share what I cook}
Put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat and bake at 350*F for about 8 to 9 minutes (my first dozen went in for 9 minutes; the last batch went in for 8 minutes).
Ahhh, fresh out of the oven! {Just so we're all clear on this, these cookies smell a LOT better once they're cooked! It's that durn molasses that makes the dough stink!}
These are perfectly yummy just as they are, but I just happen to think everything is better with chocolate. So I did this...
The chocolate kiss is the perfectly sweet way to balance to the more savory taste of these cookies.
If you so choose, while your cookies are in the oven, get out that bag of Halloween Hershey kisses you found on clearance at Publix for $.72 (no, really! I bought them this morning!), and take the wrappers off a dozen or so.
Once the cookies come out of the oven, and while they're still hot, press a kiss into the top of each cookie.
Cool on a cookie rack, or be lazy like me, and spread out some wax paper on the counter and slide the cookies off the cookie sheet and onto the wax paper.
These are great Christmas gifts for teachers and neighbors.
I tied four little guys up with a little leftover polkadot Christms ribbon.
I found these adorable Christmas boxes at TJ Maxx for $2.99 for 3, and I think that with a big lime green bow, these will make great gifts for my neighbors.
Next time I make these, I want to try rolling the dough into gingerbread man shapes and decorating them. But I think I'm going to lack the patience to put that much time and effort into these yummy little bites!
Let me know if you make these gingerbread cookies! I promise you'll love them!
P.s. I'm so excited that Petite Hermine featured my Brown Sugar Body Scrub on her Sunday Linky Party today! Linking up again this week!
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