12 Days of Cookies: Day the Eleventh( Ginger Spice Cookies)

I grew up calling these gingersnaps.  Apparently this was wrong.  Apparently gingersnaps should snap.  Apparently anything too soft to snap is merely a ginger cookie.  Apparently some people are too damn literal.

I've never been able to figure out why anyone would want a real gingersnap, anyway.  Who'd want a mouthful of cookie that crunches like spiced glass when they could have something soft, chewy, and aesthetically crackled?

This is the ginger cookie.  Not a.  Not my.  The.  Fifteen other discarded recipes told me so.

They're soft and warm and thoroughly spiced, with enough ginger to keep your tongue singing.  And, to top things off, they're filled with chips of crystallized ginger, for a little extra bite in every...well, in every bite.  Try them.  I dare. you.  Your mouth will thank you.  And your sinuses too.

Ginger-Spice Cookies
ever-so-slightly adapted from Bon Appetit

Flour  [ 2 cups ]
Ground Ginger  [ 2 1/2 teaspoons ]
Baking Soda  [ 2 teaspoons ]
Cinnamon  [ 1 teaspoon ]
Cloves  [ 1 teaspoon ]
Salt  [ 3/4 teaspoon ]
Crystallized Ginger  [ chopped, 3/4 cup ]
Dark Brown Sugar  [ packed, 1 cup ]
Vegetable Shortening  [ 1/2 cup, at room temperature ]
Unsalted Butter  [ 1/2 cup, at room temperature ]
Egg  [ 1, large ]
Mild Molasses  [ 1/4 cup ]

Sugar  [ for rolling ] 

1.   Whisk together Flour, Ground Ginger, Baking Soda, Cinnamon, Cloves, and Salt.
2.   Stir in Crystallized Ginger.
3.   In the bowl of a mixer at Medium-High speed, beat together Brown Sugar, Shortening, and Butter until 
      light and fluffy.
4.   Mix Egg and Molasses into Butter Mixture.  Mix until well blended.
5.   Stir in Flour Mixture and mix until just blended.
6.   Cover Dough and refrigerate until well-chilled and no longer sticky, preferably overnight.

7.   Heat oven to 350 degrees.
8.   Spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray.
9.   Pour Sugar into a shallow bowl.
10.   Roll Dough into 1 1/4-inch balls.  
11.   Roll Cookies in Sugar to coat and set on greased cookie sheets, keeping at least 2 inches between cookies.
12.   Bake Cookies for about 9 minutes.  Tops should be crackly, but cookies should be barely set.
13.   Cool Cookies on cookie sheets for 1 minute; then transfer to baking racks to cool.         


Makes about 30 cookies.