Handmade Holidays: Ginger Molasses Cookies

It's time for another installment of Handmade Holidays! Over the next several weeks I'll have a few guest bloggers popping in to share some of their favorite handmade gift ideas. My friend Heidi is here today with a special treat--literally. If you aren't already hungry, you will be in a minute. You can read more from Heidi on her blog and be sure to check out her hilarious Etsy shop. Let's get to the cookies:

Hello Little Nostalgia readers! I'm Heidi, the woman behind the blog and greeting card shop Row House 14. When Paige asked me to share something for the holidays, I knew immediately that I had to share this recipe for ginger molasses cookies. These cookies are always on my list of goodies to be made around the holidays, and they are my specialty, if I have to say so myself. They are soft and chewy buttery goodness with a punch of spice and a mellow molasses flavor. These cookies are so good, in fact, that my husband claims they are better than his mom's, and my mother in law now uses my recipe. Isn't it usually supposed to work the other way around? They have also become a somewhat expected staple at my family's Christmas gatherings, the kind of cookies that make my dad's eyes light up when he quietly asks if I made ginger molasses cookies this year. In other words, if there is one baked good that I have perfected to the T, this would be it. Have I convinced you yet? So naturally, since I have shared it with so many others, I will share it with you all as well!

What you'll need:

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter, sugar, and molasses together until smooth. Beat in the eggs. In a separate bowl, mix the soda, flour, salt, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. Slowly mix in the flour and spices to the butter and sugar until the cookie dough is smooth. Cover the dough and place the bowl in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes. Prep several cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper. Once the dough is a more solid consistency, remove from the fridge. Fill a small bowl with about 1/3 cup granulated sugar. Using the palm of your hands, shape cookies from the dough into small balls about 1 inch in diameter. Roll the shaped dough in the sugar and place on the line cookie sheet. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, rotating the sheets at the halfway mark. After 12 minutes, take the cookie sheets out of the oven and let the cookies cool on the sheets for about two minutes before placing them on a wire cooling rack.

Unlike some other cookie recipes, I have found that using parchment paper is absolutely key in the way these cookies turn out due to their sugar coating. Parchment paper can be found in the baking aisle at most grocery stores, and works much better than a greased baking sheet. In addition, each oven works differently, so to get the best result, I suggest baking for a smaller amount of time first as a test. The best results with these cookies come when you take them out of the oven while they are still slightly under-baked and then allow them to bake a bit more on the hot sheets as they cool. This gives them that wonderfully soft and chewy finish.

I recommend eating these along with a delicious cup of tea or hot cocoa. I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I do! And thanks to Paige for allowing me to share my cookie recipe! Happy holidays to you all!