THE ORIGINAL ‘RECEIPT’

GINGER SNAPS

2 Cups Molasses

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Shortning [sic]

1 Tablespoon of Soda

1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon of Ginger

½ Tablespoon of Cloves.

Mix Stiff and bake in a quick oven.

~Mrs. Morton’s Receipt Book. (late 1800’s)

THE UPDATED RECIPE

• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. butter
• 2 c. molasses (chilled)
• 1 Tb. baking soda
• 1 Tb. cinnamon
• 1 Tb. ground ginger
• 1 ½ tsp. ground cloves
• 4 c. sifted all-purpose flour.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease baking sheets with butter.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter;  add the molasses, and beat with a wooden spoon to combine thoroughly.

Sift together the dry ingredients, and add the molasses mixture;  mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

The dough may be chilled at this point, for easier handling, if desired.

On a lightly floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough until it is about ¼-inch thick.

Using a 2-inch diameter biscuit-cutter, cut the dough into circles.

Place the cookies on the buttered baking sheets, allowing room for expansion.

Bake at 350F for 12 to 15 minutes, until slightly darkened around the edges.

Yield:  makes about 5 dozen cookies.

These have plenty of ginger, and plenty of snap!

A note from Patricia: I make Ginger Snaps every year in December, as part of my holiday baking extravaganza. They are always my favourite of the treats, and I have a hard time NOT inhaling all of them before I’ve packaged them up for family and friends. I’m questioning now why I only bake them in December. Are they only to be eaten during the holidays? Ridiculous. I decided to give this Ginger Snap recipe a try, and then thought I’d also give these Snaps a spooky twist. I used 1:1 gluten-free baking flour with good success, and used a gingerbread person cookie cutter to cut all the little people out. Once cooled, I used Wilton’s White Cookie Icing (because making royal icing felt a bit daunting), and turned my gingerbread people into skeletons. Pretty scary, and pretty darn tasty. This will be my new go-to recipe for ginger snaps.

Another note from Patricia: Be sure to allow lots of space on the cookie sheet for the cookies to expand. I did not, and therefore many of my gingerbread people were attached by the head, hands, or toes (or all of the above). Some of them are hilariously mis-shapen, but I think it’s part of their charm.

…. ginger-snaps will keep for weeks, if locked up.

~Harland, Marion. Common Sense In The Household: A Manual of Practical Housewifery.  Toronto: G. M. Rose & Sons, 1884.

BAKING. – Be sure you understand your oven and the kind of oven each cake requires. A good oven test is the following: if the hand can be held in from 20 to 35 seconds, it is a ‘quick’ oven; from 35 to 45 seconds, it is a ‘moderate’ oven; from 45 to 60, a ‘slow’ oven.

~Five Roses Cook Book. Montreal: Lake of the Woods Milling Company Limited, 1913.