Fran’s Spicy Gingersnaps
I’ve been on a quest for the perfect gingersnaps for a very long time. Finally, success!
Since all things ginger join the holiday flavor season along with chocolate, peppermint, and cranberries, I decided that I was going to fine tune the multiple recipes for gingersnaps that I’ve tried over the years to come up with a favorite once and for all. So, starting just before Thanksgiving, I made five gingersnap trials, tweaking as I went along when the results weren’t what I wanted.
Every trial had similar spices but in slightly different quantities. Once I hit on the right amount of allspice and cloves, I was happy. I also decided to cut down on the molasses as a quarter cup made the flavor too dominant for me. The coup de grâce was to add a tiny bit of cayenne pepper to the recipe to give it its delightful tingle.
These gingersnaps are moist, chewy, and utterly delectable. Enjoy…
Fran’s Spicy Gingersnaps
Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- Scant 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne pepper—see my notes immediately below
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) soft unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
- 3 tbl. molasses – I used Grandma’s Unsulphured Original
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 cup or more sugar for rolling—you can use your choice of granulated, Demerara, or Turbinado
Fran’s Notes
The cayenne pepper is what gives the spicy “snap” in the cookies. There’s a slow little after burn, and it will give your taste buds a pleasant tingle. Children may not appreciate it as much as adults do! Just as an FYI, hubby would prefer that I use a full 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne. I made them that way once, and he loved the extra oomph!
Directions
Preheat oven to 350o F and line two or three cookie sheets with parchment paper (I have a 30” oven, so two cookie sheets work for me). Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
Beat butter, then add both sugars and beat until creamy.
Add molasses, then add egg and vanilla. Beat until well combined.
Gradually beat in the dry ingredients until completely incorporated.
Refrigerate cookie dough for approximately 1 hour.
Use a 1½-tablespoon-sized cookie scoop to form balls. Then use your hands to roll and smooth out before rolling in the sugar of your choice. I used regular granulated sugar.
Place cookie balls on prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies at least 2” apart. I prefer to bake these cookie sheets on the middle shelf in my oven which means that I am baking them one sheet at a time. You can stagger your shelves in the upper and lower thirds of your oven so that you can bake two cookie sheets at a time. You will need to reverse the sheets on the shelves halfway through baking. If your oven has hot spots, you may want to rotate the sheets as well.
Bake at 350o F for 10 to 11 minutes. (Mine were perfect at 11 minutes.) Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet.
Notes
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. The cookies freeze well, so it’s a nice option to make and freeze ahead of the holidays.
Source: A frantastic original tweaked through the years until I was happy!