Food Friday: Recipe for Ginger Spice Cookies

These are amazing cookies. (and I don't even normally like ginger cookies:)  We ate them before I thought to take pictures, so I will add photos the next time we make them.
(Special Note: Because I've been so negligent in posting recipes for a few weeks, and because perhaps you are trying to stay away from sweets after Christmas, I will post TWO recipes this week!  So, make sure to click on both this amazing cookie recipe and the recipe, above, for Pasta Fagioli Soup, from my friend Margie.)


Recipe for Ginger Spice Cookies
(from Paula Deen)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup Crisco (recipe calls for Butter-flavored Crisco, but we didn't have it, and they were still amazing)
1 cup sugar, plus more for rolling
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

With an electric mixer, combine shortening and sugar and cream  until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).  Add the egg and the molasses and beat until completely incorporated.

Sift or whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt and then add to the mixture.  Stir until combined.  Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar.  Place on cookie sheets.

Smoosh them down with your fingers (they don't flatten).

Bake for 8-10 minutes.  They may NOT LOOK DONE--but take them out.  Do not overbake! Very important.  We overbaked some at first, and they became very hard.  However! the good news is that the hard ones, when heated in the microwave for, I don't know, maybe 10-15 seconds? tasted absolutely wonderful! I actually preferred them heated.  And the other good news is that these last a long time in your cookie jar, if your family doesn't gobble them up first:)  I hope you'll enjoy filling your cookie jar with these scrumptious (:delightful, excellent, especially delicious) cookies.

Enjoy!