Ginger Cinnamon Spice Cookies

Some days you just feel a tad low… Ya know?

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about people that have come and gone from my life. Some for good reasons, some I wish I had back. There are some relationships that you build with people in friendship, that just can never be replicated. I’m not a person that harbours many regrets… but one regret of mine, is that I haven’t been able to let bygones be bygones. I am a very forgiving person in nature, but you can only be used and pushed for so long before you snap. A lot of people I know would just take some breathing time, and then come to a resolve with a person. I however, for one reason or another, don’t function that way unfortunately. I’m pretty cut and dry, so if I cut a person out of my life… it’s done. I never speak to the person again, and if I ran in to them on the street, it’s pretty easy for me to see them as a perfect stranger or to block them out completely. I’ve come to realize that this is an issue, not a skill, and that forgiveness is an area I seriously need to work on. So if you’re reading this, tiny one (you know exactly who you are), I’m working on it.
As I said, some days you just feel blue. On those days, put on your this-is-so-comfortable-but-I-wouldn’t-be-seen-dead-outside-the-house-in-this outfit on, bake cookies, and have a nice big cup of tea. These cookies will make you feel better. Unless you’re like, allergic to ginger or cinnamon or pepper or one of the other ingredients. In which case, it will definitely continue your shitty day and you shouldn’t make them and just accept my condolences for your day of misfortune.

Ginger Cinnamon Spice Cookies:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp molasses
• 2 tbsp ginger
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp all spice
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• pinch of cloves
• pinch of nutmeg

You’ll also need to mix up some cinnamon sugar to roll your dough balls in. Just combine 1/2 cup of white sugar, with 2 table spoons of cinnamon. By all means up the cinnamon if you would like to, but you should know that the more cinnamon you use in your cinnamon sugar, the darker your cookie will be after baking.

Also, if you don’t have cloves or nutmeg, don’t sweat it. They add a little something to the recipe, but you’ll also be fine without it.

Method:

1. Butter your cookie sheets (or lay parchment), and pre-heat your oven to 350*.
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together all your dry ingredients. You could use a sifter, but I find whisking until well incorporated works just fine for this recipe.
3. Cream butter, white sugar, brown sugar, your molasses and egg together then beat until “fluffy”.
4. Turn mixer on low, and slowly add your dry mix until it’s all well combined.
5. Flatten out your dough in to a large disc, wrap in plastic wrap (a grocery bag works, or tinfoil if you’re against plastic being in contact with your food), and put it in your freezer for 20 minutes or so.  This makes it stiffer, and easier to work with for the next step.
6. Divide your dough into equal sized balls, and roll in cinnamon sugar.
7. Space your dough balls evenly on your cookie sheets, flatten slightly with the palm of your hand, and bake for 12-15 minutes. 

I usually prefer my cookies to be a bit bigger than this, so I tend to make the dough balls a bit larger than they are here. Don’t be afraid to do that as well. At first, fresh out of the oven.. these cookies were wonderfully crisp on the outside, and moist and fluffy on the inside. As they cooled, they took on more of a traditional ginger snap sort of texture. Great for that nice big cup of tea.