These gingersnaps represent everything I love about baking. They’re delicious (she said modestly), they’re easy to bake, and they taste like the homemade cookies we ate when we were kids. In fact, that’s exactly what they are. I grew up on a farm, and my grandparents lived in a different house on the same farm. Every Saturday morning, my sister Gwen and I visited Grandma and Grandpa Baker. (Yes, she really was Grandma Baker!) And every Saturday morning, she had two plates of warm cookies waiting for us – coconut oatmeal cookies for Gwen and gingersnaps for me. Somewhat dubiously, I used to drink mine with chocolate milk, but everything else about that memory is perfect. When I was checking the ingredients for this recipe, I found three containers of ginger in my cupboard. Three. I make a lot of gingersnaps, but not that many. Having written this, I hope that the next time I go to the grocery store, I don’t hover in front of the spice display thinking, “Do I need more ginger?”
Here's the original recipe. Let me know if you like it!
Grandma Baker's Gingersnaps
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp ginger
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
Sift first five ingredients into a medium-sized bowl. In a large bowl, beat shortening, then add egg, sugar and molasses, still beating. Stir in dry ingredients. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 350ยบ F for 12 – 15 minutes.
