Thursday, March 8, 2018

Gingersnaps

My mother-in-law, who lives nearby in an assisted-living facility (by her own choice), put in a request for gingersnaps recently.  Though I could have bought some, I wanted to make them because I think it's a shame if a person never gets homemade goodies.  I'd never made them before, so I turned to my trusty BHG cookbooks.  I amd currently in possession of three of these cookbooks: a recent one published about five years ago, the 1987 edition which was a wedding gift, and a vintage 1953 edition.  The recent and vintage ones belonged to Dave's mother, but since she never cooks anymore, I'm putting them to good use.  I used the recipe from the vintage edition because, well, just look at this illustration!



How could I resist??  The cover~



And the cookies~



The recipe was easy to follow and resulted in delicious, crispy cookies.  However, I reduced the baking time from fifteen minutes to twelve, and I'm glad I did.  They would have been too brown otherwise.  Here's the recipe~


BHG Old-fashioned Gingersnaps

3/4 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. light molasses (I used dark because I already had some.)
1 beaten egg
2 c. sifted flour (Sift first, then measure.)
2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. cloves
1 t. ginger

     Cream shortening and sugar; add molasses and egg; beat well.  Sift dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture; mix well.
     Roll in small balls; dip into sugar; place 2 inches apart on greased cooky sheet.  Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) for 15 minutes (I reduced this 12).  Makes four dozen cookies.

I didn't dip mine into sugar because my mother-in-law doesn't like things too sweet.  They are delicious nevertheless!




1 comment:

  1. I own that same cookbook! It was my mother's. I use it a lot, but I've never made the gingersnaps. I need to try them. :)

    ReplyDelete

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