This recipe is pretty much taken verbatim from the “Joy of Cooking” – I’ve made a slight modifications, but not many. It’s just about perfection.
Ingredients
Dry:
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 5 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 6 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (or allspice)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet:
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup dark molasses
- 1 tablespoon water
Directions
Step 1
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
Step 2
Blend together on medium speed until very fluffy the butter and the sugar. Once the sugar and butter are well blended, add the eggs, molasses and water
Step 3
Beat half of the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until well blended and smooth. Blend in the remaining flour mixture until well blended.
Step 4
Place the dough in a sealable plastic bag or wrap it in plastic wrap. Set aside the dough in a cool place (I always put it in the fridge even thought the directions say not to) for at least an hour (or for up to 3 days).
Step 5
Heat the oven to 350.
Generously flour your surface and knead the dough a bit to warm and soften it up. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut out your shapes. I like to put the cookies on a piece of parchment paper or a cooking mat. Pop them in the oven for about 8 minutes. If you want them crispy, put ’em in for 10 minutes, but I like them chewy so it’s 8 or 8 and a half minutes for me.
Yield: 55 cookies
