Big Soft Ginger Cookies

Tonight I was looking into a mixing bowl of cookie dough and found myself thinking of you!  Seeing the rich colors of the spices against the molasses dough made me remember mixing this favorite cookie with you. Baking was a favorite afternoon pastime of ours when you were small children.  You both loved to help in the kitchen, measuring, stirring, tasting and I enjoyed spending time with you creating yummy treats. Sometimes, especially in winter, we baked 3 or 4 days a week.  You would take turns measuring and dumping ingredients into the bowl.  Cracking eggs was always interesting!  Cookies were a favorite to bake because it also gave you a chance to play with the dough.  Sometimes we just made our own fresh play-dough so we could enjoy playing with warm soft dough!

Baking gave us a fun activity to share together.  But since we didn't need to eat all of our creations ourselves, we had to find people to share those tasty treats with.  Often this meant Dad would have baked goods to take to work and share with his co-workers.  Here is a picture of us together at Bethany Covenant Home where Dad worked.  Crazy, big glasses, huh?  We moved to Northbrook shortly after this picture was taken.

I found today's recipe  in a magazine when we lived at 4201 Beard Avenue North.  It looked like it might be perfect for our baking days and give us a nice change from chocolate chip and sugar cookies.  The spicy cookie has become a family favorite that we still enjoy year round.  Get ready to mix up a batch, they are a perfect treat to have around for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

3/4 butter, margarine or shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt (opt)

2 1/4 cups flour

 2 Tbsp. sugar

Beat the butter with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds.  Gradually add sugar, beat until fluffy.  Add egg and molasses, beat well.

Mix in the spices and soda.  Add the flour to mixture and mix well. 

Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls (1 heaping Tbsp each). Roll the balls in the 2 Tbsp sugar.  

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until light brown and still puffed, may be slightly cracked.  Do not over bake.  Let cool 2 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.