OLD FASHIONED GINGER COOKIES

 Day 4 of Gifts from my Kitchen posts. Old-Fashioned Ginger Cookies. A friend, Vali, from Hillcrest Thrift Shop recently gave me one of Lovina Eicher and Kevin Williams cookbooks, The Amish Cook's Baking Book that had belonged to here late brother-in-law. I have one of their other cookbooks and was excited to have this one. If you ever see one of them, I would suggest you buy it. You not only get some fantastic recipes, but you can learn a lot about Amish communities and enjoy some pictures.

I love Ginger Cookies and thought this one would be a good addition to my assortment of treats for friends and neighbors. The recipe makes 4 dozen cookies which are plenty for me to make at one time, but as I read the recipe, I realized the cookies would be twice as big as I would like so I decided to cut the recipe in half and still end up with 4 dozen cookies. 

How? you may ask? Lovina rolls out balls that are 2-1/2 inches in diameter. I just made my 1 - inch balls that I make using my cookie scoop and still had at least 4 dozen cookies just the size I wanted. I will be sharing my version of the recipe. If you want to make super-sized cookies, just double the amounts for the ingredients.

OLD-FASHIONED GINGER COOKIES

1/2       cup shortening

3/4       cup molasses

1/2       cup butter (1 stick)

1/2       cup sugar, divided

1          cup buttermilk or sour milk (I did use buttermilk)

2-3/4    cups flour

1/4       teaspoon salt

1/2       tablespoon baking soda

1/2       teaspoon ground ginger (only 3/4 teaspoon in original recipe - I like ginger)

1/2       teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a non-stick saucepan, heat the shortening, molasses, butter, and 1/4 cup of the sugar over medium heat

until melted.

Add the milk, stir until smooth,

and remove from the heat.

In another bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon together with a whisk.

Stir in the liquid ingredients

until a smooth dough forms.

The dough may seem too soft, but don't add more flour.

Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and roll into 1 - inch balls using a cookie scoop. In a small bowl pour the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Dip and roll the dough balls into the sugar and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.

Flatten the dough gently with the back of a spoon. (I used a glass with a decorative bottom but the imprint didn't last after baking.)

Bake until the centers begin to turn dark brown, 10 - 12 minutes. (Mine didn't change much in color so I just cooked until I thought they were ready to come out about half of the time the original recipe said for a cookie twice as big.)

Cool the cookies on a wire rack or a plate and then put into sealed containers. I stored them with a piece of wax paper between layers. (I didn't take a picture, but I am sure you know what I mean.)