‘Papa’s Favorite Gingersnaps’ adapted from Kelly Junkins of Vestavia, AL
There could not be and cannot be a better gingersnap cookie than this. Make it jumbo-size– It holds in the moisture better, it looks better, and one cookie per person will suffice.
Cream together 3/4 cups shortening and 1 cup sugar.
Add 1 large egg and 4 tablespoons molasses.
2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground smoked cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground cloves
I never buy ground cloves in the store anymore, not even ground nutmeg. I grind whole cloves in my coffee grinder for a more robust and better spice of cloves in my baked goods when I need them at a particular moment; fresh this way. I purchase whole nutmeg and freshly grate as I need it, just to keep it fresh longer, not grating all of it to store– simply using what I need, only.
Stir and mash batter against the mixing bowl with a silicone spatula while incorporating dry ingredients. It blends in each ingredient a lot better than adding all of it at once and stirring with a large spoon. It thoroughly blends this way for this type of cookie, using this technique. It will aid in making the cookies softer. Instead of using all-purpose flour, I opted for bread flour because it’s “better for bread” and it is, also for cookies that you want moist in the center.
To make them crackle after being baked, carefully drop just 2 to 3 drops of water of the top of each cookie, then sprinkle more sugar over the tops. Bake at 325 degrees…
These are easy to over-bake in the oven. They won’t appear completely done when removing from the oven, but allow them to set on the parchment-lined cookie sheet or shallow pan out of the oven for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack with a thin spatula. As soon as they are out of the oven, sprinkle with more sugar. These will continue to bake on the pan just right.
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