Ginger Snaps

When the mercury dips we love spicy cookies. These ginger, cinnamon and cloves flavored cookies are perfect for winter. They also happen to be my childhood favorites. The mercury never really dipped too low where I grew up but I loved the taste of ginger in the cookies. I am not really a tea or coffee person but I think they would be great with a cup of tea. If you have never tried them before but like the taste of ginger spice you will love them.

These are not soft cookies. They have a snap to them. At the same time they are not hard either. They are thin cookies that crumble once you take a bite. Heating the butter is the trick to getting the texture just right. Heating helps take out the moisture from the butter just enough to keep them going soft.

I baked these to make a base for a pumpkin tart. I thought the ginger and pumpkin flavors would be great. My daughter had other plans. She insisted on taking them to school as a snack. And I have been asked to please not use the rest. I am glad she likes them just as much as I do.

A long time ago when I browsed magazines for recipes and noted them down in recipe cards, I had this recipe jotted down.

You will need (makes about 12 thin cookies)
25 gm butter
25 gm brown sugar
25 ml honey
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. baking soda
75 gm all purpose flour

In a pan melt the butter on low heat. Add the sugar, honey and the ground spices. Let the mixture heat completely but do not bring to a boil.

Turn off heat and sift in the flour and baking soda. Knead into a soft dough. Wrap it on plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour. The dough will firm up.

Preheat oven to 375 F. If the dough is too firm let it sit on the counter top or on the palm of your hand. It should be soft enough to roll. However, it should not be soft. Roll it out on a working surface using a rolling pin, Using a cookie cutter or the rim of a small cup cut the circular cookies. Place them on a cookie sheet.

Bake for about 8 minutes. Watch closely. They do burn quickly. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

The cookies will darken and harden a little.

Enjoy!