German Ginger Snaps

Ginger Snaps are probably my favorite cookie. My Oma use to make them when I was a kid and I also use to get them at church during Sunday School when Mrs. Acer would bring them in along with apple cider to dip them in. Since Thanksgiving is coming up I figured it would be a good time to start making them.

As usual I'm going to jump right into things....



You can start this recipe with 3/4 cup of melted margarine (or butter.) We all know that butter or a butter substitute is the best way to start the day.

While that melts....



Measure out a 1/4 cup of molasses. The molasses makes this cookie so please get good molasses, don't just get it at the dollar store (trust me I've seen it). I use the one with the rabbit on it.





You can add that molasses to 1 cup of brown sugar and add to it an egg and the now melted margarine. After that just mix up the batter and you'll have something that looks like this....



Then what you'll want to do is start going through your spice cabinet. For these cookies you need to make sure you have cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves and nutmeg. I also want to tell you now that if you don't utlize these spices to often except once or so a year, please throw them out. Although spices don't have an expiration date they well, go stale if you don't use them up. If you don't use them all the time try borrowing them from someone who does or get a baking buddy so this way you use them more often...


Then you'll need to sift 2 1/4 cups of flour and then the following spices:
1) a teaspoon cinnamon
2) a teaspoon ginger
3) 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
4) 2 shakes of nutmeg




When you have everything together in the bowl, mix it together....



It'll look like this, but then you have to do the hardest thing when it comes to cookies:

Wait.

These cookies aren't drop cookies. You can't just throw them on the cookie sheet and bake them up. These ginger snaps need to refrigerate for a MINIMUM of four hours. This way the dough will get hard enough for you to roll into a ball.

While you wait you can try doing the following things:
1) Go visit your Mom and give her your laundry to do. If she is awesome like my mom she'll do it and give you her BJ's card so you can go terrorize people there.
2) Go to the mall and watch all the misfits.
3) Go to Linen's and Things and marvel how it's going out of business.
4) Go to the Philly Pretzel Factory and pretend that's lunch.

At this point everything should be done.

So how do you know the dough is done?

When it does this:


The dough will be firm enough for you to roll into a ball, so take a small amount into your spoon and roll it into the ball, and then you roll it in regular granulated sugar.



Normally when you're rolling you can fit about 8 little balls on a cookie sheet.



You can then pop these cookies into the oven that is preheated for 375 and bake it for 8-10 minutes. While they bake you're house/apartment/hovel will begin to smell so wonderful and it reminds me of fall and the holidays. And if you think it smells good, wait till you see them...



But the best part is taking one an sharing it with someone who loves ginger snaps just as much as you....



Thanks for visiting the blog, and the Tiny Ass Kitchen! If you think these cookies are for you, here is the recipe!

German Ginger Snaps.
3/4 cup butter or margerine (softened/melted)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 shakes nutmeg

Chill for 4 hours or more and roll in granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 and bake for 8-10 minutes