Colonial Ginger Cookies
Warm, spicy traditional ginger cake-style cookie. Perfect for morning snacks, late afternoon tea and of course, cookie trays. Not too sweet, not too spicy--just right!
Servings 4 dozen cookies
Ingredients
- 6 cups Plain flour, plus more for dusting as needed
- 1.5 cups molasses (12 oz.), unsulphured 12 oz. is a regular glass jar
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed tightly
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1/3 cup shortening
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. allspice, ground
- 1 tsp. ginger, ground
- 1 tsp. cloves, ground
- 1 tsp. cinnamon, ground
- 2 tsp. baking soda (dissolved in 3 tbls. cold water)
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
Read all instructions first. This recipe makes a large batch (approx. 48 cookies) so you'll need large mixing bowls.
To make the cookie dough:
- In a large bowl, cream together the egg, shortening and brown sugar.
- Add in the molasses to the creamed mixture (this may take a few minutes to get out all 12 oz.)
- Stir in the 1/2 cup cold water. Set wet mixture aside.
- In a separate large bowl, sift together the 6 cups of flour plus the spices (1 tsp. each: allspice, cloves, ginger and cinnamon).
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, a little at a time. Stir in until all dry ingredients are incorporated but do not over mix.
- Stir in the 2 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 3 tbls. cold water to the dough.
- Chill dough at least 20 minutes or up to 3 days (can also be frozen if not using right away).
To bake the cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 oF. Line several large cookie sheets with parchment paper and dust your work surface with flour.
- Roll out the chilled dough very thick (approx. 1/2 inch) and cut as desired (recommend 3 inch biscuit cutter but shapes work well, too). 3 inch round cookies is the standard here but... If you want smaller, more cakey cookies, simply pinch off dough and roll into a ball. Cookies will be taller and a little lighter. Dust surface and/or cutter lightly with flour as needed but brush away excess flour before baking.
- Place cookies on lined cookie sheets far apart (about 2 inches apart) and bake 12-17 minutes, or until when lightly touched, no imprint remains.Be careful not to over bake--use the center rack and don't crowd your oven.
Notes
I cannot stress how important it is to use parchment paper or your Silpat. Aluminum foil does not prevent these from sticking (but it doesn't affect flavor at all).
I've made these both by chilling before (as called for) and working straight after making the dough. If you do not chill, dough may be stickier and harder to cut but will still work with a little added flour. I recommend chilling for at least 20 minutes, though.
If you are having trouble getting all 12 oz. of molasses out of the jar, you can substitute 3 tbls. brown sugar for 1/4 cup molasses (though I wouldn't substitute any more than that). Thanks to The Balance for the tip!
If a glaze is desired, wait until cookies are cool and then drizzle or dip. Dust with powdered sugar for a simple and pretty cookie.
Use the best spices you can buy--the ginger especially should be good quality.
I recommend using dark molasses, but do not use blackstrap