Gingersnap Cookies

Hello my rabid fans!

I know Hallowe'en is so long gone that it's like the distant dream of an old ghost watching Caspar cartoons and sadly shaking his head. Unfortunately my semester deadlines are marching determinedly toward me, and I've had to put more important things—like posting delicious cookie recipes for your voracious pleasure—to the side.

But the guilt really got to me. Here I was, sitting on a recipe of such universal popularity that a four-year old lion, a 6-yr old dead bride, a 9 yr. old witch, a 24-yr. old German emigré, a 31-yr. old pirate, a North Carolinian college freshman, and two professors in disparate fields couldn't wait to shove those cookies into their maws. What I'm trying to say is that this recipe is Pure Gold.

And you, my most loyal fans, deserve to have it for your Very Own. George adapted this recipe from the Joy of Cooking, an excellent cookie resource. I'm not a fan of their instructions on how to skin wild boar, but in the immortal words of Sesame Street's Cookie Monster, "C is for cookie. That's good enough for me."

Gingersnap Cookies

Note: It's good to make two batches. The batch according to the recipe will be softer, and children and soft-cookie fans will enjoy those. Then you turn off the oven and leave the other batch in to dry out until it looks like what one kid described as "earthquake cookies." Those will be harder and earn the "snap" part of the name.

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup butter
2 Cup sugar
2 beaten eggs
1/2 Cup molasses
2 teaspoons white vinegar
3 3/4 Cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 2/3 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoons ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325.
2. Cream together butter and sugar.
3. Stir in eggs, molasses, and vinegar.
4. Sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and ground cloves. Add it to the batter.
5. Mix all together.
   
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
   
7. Form the dough into 3/4 inch balls spaced apart about three to four inches.
8. Bake 12-15 minutes.
   
9. Let half of the cookies cool. Turn off the oven and leave the other half inside to dry out and harden.