Grandma Lena’s Ginger Snaps

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Ginger snaps. Sometimes called molasses cookies or molasses crinkles…it’s a classic recipe, just like my grandma used to make!

Of all the smells that came out of my grandma’s kitchen…from sugar cookies, to dumpling soup, to raised doughnuts…these ginger snaps might just be my favorite.

There is some debate among the family as to whether in their ideal form they are chewy or crispy.  I find them delicious either way, but my preference is chewy.  Having said that, I am also forgetful, and so invariably, I end up with some crispy cookies as well!

Ginger Snaps

Sometimes called molasses cookies or molasses crinkles…this is an old fashioned cookie recipe.  It may be the only cookie that I use Crisco in instead of butter.  It’s what my grandma used, so it’s what I use.  Feel free to substitute butter, but I can’t vouch for results, since I’ve never tried it.

Your kitchen will smell like autumn when you bake them.  Spicy and sweet.  They are the perfect fall cookie.  (Now, after writing that, my husband just walked in and said, “It smells like Christmas in here, what are you making?!”  :-))

After mixing up your dough, it needs to chill for a bit before you scoop and roll the dough into balls, coating them in sugar before flattening and baking.

Sometimes I double the recipe and freeze half to pull out on a lazy day.  Fresh baked cookies with virtually no effort.  Yes, please!  I thaw the dough in the refrigerator overnight.

And here’s a tip for not wasting any leftover sugar used to roll the cookie dough in…I just pick out any bits of cookie dough and add it, with a little cinnamon, to my cinnamon-sugar jar.  Am I the only one with a cinnamon-sugar jar?  We use it on toast and on buttered rice…mmmm!

  

Baking tip:  cookies are done when they have cracks on top.

After baking, let your cookies cool a bit on a wire rack before storing. They don’t last long around my house!