Original Recipe
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
4 tbsp. molasses
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
Sugar for rolling dough in
Preheat the oven to 350°.
In a large bowl cream together shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add in the egg and molasses until fully combined.
In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, spices and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture and mix until combined.
Roll the dough into small balls [I measured mine at about 2 teaspoons] and then roll in sugar. Bake for about 10 minutes.
Did it Work?
This is a nice straight forward spice cookie with a lovely crunch thanks to the sugar coating. The molasses adds a bit of color, but the flavor of it does not overwhelm anything.
You get a lot of wiggle room on the spices, so feel free to experiment. For several batches I upped the ginger because I love ginger. Due to a lack of cinnamon for one batch I ended up replacing the cinnamon with star anise and some allspice. Chinese five-space powder would probably also be tasty, as would adding some chopped candied ginger.
You get a lot of wiggle room on the spices, so feel free to experiment. For several batches I upped the ginger because I love ginger. Due to a lack of cinnamon for one batch I ended up replacing the cinnamon with star anise and some allspice. Chinese five-space powder would probably also be tasty, as would adding some chopped candied ginger.
The cookies do not come out too big, making them nice for a tea-time treat or a cookie tray. You could easily pre-potion these and freeze for baking off later.
Modifications
Except for messing with the spices, this really did not need any changes. I did not change out the shortening for butter like I normally do because I did not want the flavor of the butter interfering with the spices.
Photos
Dough ready to bake.
The finished product
