I love a ginger snap cookie around the holidays, and my great grandmother’s recipe is my favorite. Back in the day, my great grandmother owned a diner in my hometown, and she was famous for her sweet treats. One of her most popular treats was her ginger snap cookies, and I am going to share that recipe with you today.
Although I may be biased, I believe this ginger snap recipe to be paramount. The cookies are soft and chewy with just the right amount of ginger and molasses flavoring. The recipe is fairly straightforward, and can easily be turned gluten free if needed (see note below). I hope you enjoy these delightful treats this holiday season, happy baking!
Ingredients:
¾ cup crisco
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
¼ cup molasses
2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar (for rolling the dough)
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 350˚F
- In a medium to large mixing bowl, combine crisco, brown sugar, egg, and molasses. Mix together by hand or with a stand mixer.
- Once combined, add the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl–flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon. Stir together until your ingredients form a dough.
- Take bits of dough and roll into 1 inch sized balls, place them in a bowl of sugar and coat them. When finished rolling and coating your dough, place onto a greased or nonstick baking pan about 3 inches apart.
- Bake for approximately 8 minutes (give or take a few minutes). When done, the cookies should be cracked on top, golden brown, and hold their shape. Immediately transfer them to a cooling rack (or eat them!).
- Eat immediately, or freeze and eat at a later date.
*If you are gluten free, you can make these with gluten free flour (I have used Cup 4 Cup flour successfully). They taste exactly the same, but don’t keep their soft chewy texture as long as their counterparts. I recommend eating these within 1-3 days, and I do not recommend freezing the gluten free version.
