We aren’t sure why you need to wait until the holiday season to make these cookies, but traditionally that’s been our approach. The wonderful thing about this recipe is it doesn’t scream ginger at you. Rather, it’s a balanced blend of spices that turns ginger opponents into fans. The coarse sugar on top yields a wonderful crunch with each bite and a subtle extra sweetness that our sweet tooth is drawn to. Play around with the spice quantities to your liking, use coloured sugar to complement the season and we hope you enjoy this cookie as much as we do.
Tip: You can use a solid wooden spoon and some elbow grease if you don’t have a stand mixer to make this cookie dough. When using this method, we often use our hands to work in the last bit of flour.
Makes 24 to 26 cookies
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups softened butter
2 cups white granulated sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup molasses
For topping
¾ cup coarse sugar (granulated will work too, but will not add crunch)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda and salt, then set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on low speed for 30 seconds.
- Add the granulated sugar to the butter and beat until combined (scraping sides of bowls occasionally).
- Add eggs and molasses to the butter and sugar mixture and mix until combined.
- Add the flour mixture until combined.
- Shape dough into 2-inch balls and roll in coarse (or granulated) sugar.
- Place six balls on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 14 minutes or until cookies are light brown and puffed.
- Cool cookies on baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Recipe shared by Tomarra Walker (Vancouver, British Columbia).
