Soft Gingersnap Cookies

I know, it’s sort of incorrect to call these Ginger Snap cookies, as there is no real snap to them, but it’s what I’ve always called them.  They’re one of my favorites (I know I have a lot of favorite cookies – I have a problem that I’m willing to admit when it comes to cookies, I come by this naturally as I get it from my Grandfather and so does my oldest son).

I used to cheat and simply buy a log of Pillsbury Gingerbread dough and chop it up, roll it in sugar and bake them off.  Funnily enough one of the ladies that my mom used to work with once asked her if I would be willing to give her the recipe as she loved them so much.  I had to laugh, told my mom to tell her to go to the store, buy the tube of dough, cut it up and bake.  Too funny.

About 10 years ago I went on a quest to start making my own Gingersnap cookies, but I still wanted them soft.

When the company that I work for was still in our Downtown offices (this was a really long time ago – and two moves since then) on my last day before Christmas break, as I left the office I would drive up to Chinook Mall and go to Cookies by George and buy myself 6, yes I said 6, Gingersnap cookies, which are something they only have at Christmastime.  I would swear these were for the whole Christmas season, but let’s be honest, at least 2 of them were gone by the time I got home.

I have tried a few recipes, but they all turned out hard and well, snappy.  Not what I was looking for, I wanted the spice of a gingerbread, but with a lot of softness, almost like a peanut butter cookie.  Then I came across this recipe, which is the one that I’ve been using ever since.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together your margarine (this is what makes these cookies stay nice and soft) and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg and then the molasses.

Gradually add in the dry ingredients.

Scoop the dough onto a baking sheet (this dough is really soft – so it needs to be chilled before baking – even if you aren’t going to freeze it).  It depends on the size of your scoop as to how many cookies you will get from this recipe.

Once the dough has been scooped out, place in the fridge for an hour to let the dough firm up.  Once it has firmed up, roll the balls of dough into sugar and flatten slightly.

At this point place them back in the fridge to firm up again, as they will soften during this process.

At this point you can either bake them off, or in my case, I freeze them.  Just remember, these cookies never quite firm up as well as ones made with butter, so they will still be soft when you put them into a freezer bag, so be gentle with them.

If baking off right away, preheat your oven to 350°F.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.  Allow to cool for about 2 minutes on the pans and then remove to a cooling rack.  Store in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks.

I, on the other hand, freeze mine, so I can make these in advance, up to 2 months before hand, and bake them from frozen.  Again, preheat your oven to 350°F and bake for approx. 12 minutes (these thaw quickly – so if you notice that they are thawing – bake for 10 minutes).  You don’t want to over bake these as you still want them to be nice and soft once cooled.

Again, store in an air tight container.

Soft Gingersnap Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour

2 heaped tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

170 gr. margarine

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup white sugar (for coating)

1. Mix together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.  Set aside.
2. In bowl of stand mixer, cream together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in egg.
4. Mix in molasses.
5. Gradually add in the dry ingredients.
6. Scoop mixture out onto a sheet pan and place in the fridge for approx. 1 hour.
7. Roll balls into sugar and flatten slightly.
8. Return to fridge for another hour.

If baking right away:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Bake for approx. 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on pan and then move to a cooling rack.
4. Store in an airtight container.

If freezing:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Remove cookies from freezer.
3. Bake for approx. 12 minutes – from frozen.  (If you allow the cookies to thaw overnight in the fridge, follow the baking instructions as noted above).
4. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on pan and then move to a cooling rack.
5. Store in an airtight container.