My
dad loved gingersnaps, so two or three times a year he would make a big batch
using his mother’s (Ina’s) recipe. Mike loves gingersnaps, too, and we usually
keep packages purchased at the Dollar Tree on hand for his snacking, but we didn’t
have any at the farm so I decided to make some.
Both
of my grandmothers, Ina Dobson and Nina Portfors, came from families with
similar recipes for ginger cookies. The following is Ina’s recipe:
1
cup sugar
5
cups flour
1
cup shortening (butter best)
1
cup molasses
1
egg
1
tsp soda
½
cup hot water
Salt
½
tsp cloves
1
tsp ginger
2
tsp cinnamon
Cream
shortening and sugar. Add molasses and beaten egg. Add soda in the water. Sift
together flour, salt, spices and add to shortening mixture. Chill 6 or 8 hours.
Roll thin. Cut in any shapes desired.
Somehow
I never quite trusted that this recipe was the best one going because my dad
was always changing it. He loved to cook, and it was just his nature to alter
the ingredients, but his actions said to me that the recipe was lacking in his
opinion. So, as a youngster, when I wanted to bake ginger cookies – usually
once a year at Christmas – I used a cookbook recipe. This time was no
exception. I turned to The Illustrated Treasury of Cooking, a 1975
blending of old and new recipes, where I found the following update on the old
gingersnap recipe:
1
cup butter, margarine or shortening
1
cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1
egg
1
cup table molasses
1
tbsp vinegar
4
cups sifted flour
1
tsp baking soda
1
tsp salt
1
tbsp powdered ginger (yes!)
1/16
tsp cayenne (oh yeah!)
½
tsp powdered cinnamon
Cream
the shortening until light. Gradually add the sugar, beating until creamy. Beat
in the egg, then the molasses and vinegar.
Sift
dry ingredients and add to the creamed mixture and mix thoroughly. Cover the
dough with waxed paper and let it chill in the refrigerator one hour or more.
When
ready to bake, roll the dough out 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured board.
Cut in rounds with cookie cutter and place on greased cookie sheets. (I lined
sheets with parchment paper instead.) Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes.
Ina
left two round cookie cutters in the house. My dad always made big gingersnaps,
so I used the larger one first. Then I decided that Mike would probably prefer
to eat a lot of smaller cookies, so I switched to the smaller cutter.
I
love the spiciness of these ginger cookies and would use the recipe again, but
I believe I might work in that extra ½ to 1 cup of flour. The dough was really
soft.
Over
time the way we think about our provisions has changed. We skimp when money and
goods are scarce, and we can see that in the vintage recipes. My mother used
her spices sparingly, and they sat in the cupboard and got old. Today, we’re
much more aware of shelf life and give importance to keeping cooking supplies
fresh, knowing that they will lose their savor with time. We just as well enjoy
them.
7 comments:
Gingersnaps are a big hit here, too. I use a recipe from the Garden Club Dessert Cookbook, circa mid '60's that's quite different from either of yours. They are also formed into balls and rolled in sugar before baking. My recipe has the hand written comment, "For Ann" with a smiley face because she especially loved them "back in the day."
When you think about cookie making many many years ago, you have to consider how the cook did the mixing, the baking and the quality of ingredients. Ovens with good, bad or even no thermometers played a part in the outcome. Using an electric mixer will give a different result than hand mixing something.
I've never made gingersnaps. About every 3 or 4 years I buy some at the store. They are unique and really tasty.
Kathy, because the dough was soft, your results were the way they were. If you fiddle with adding more flour the next time, you'll need to tread softly.
A big cookie will taste different than a smaller one. Taste is an individual thing, of course, but remember that a big cookie will have a lower ratio of outside crispness than a small cookie.
And one more thing. Adding more flour will taste like you added more flour.
I'm a sucker for a taste of chocolate: m&m cookies, chocolate chip, OR peanut butter kiss cookies. Mmm! I'll eat a ginger cookie but I prefer them fresh out of the oven before they can become a "snap". True about the flour ratio, but a tweak here and there sometimes has to happen to get that chemistry just right. I've been practicing at becoming a more meticulous baker (muffins). I made a tweak by adding nuts and next time I'll have to tweak again to compensate for dryness. Ah, c'est la vie!
Oh yes, Chris, I have a recipe like that, too, and have used it for years. As Hallie indicates, though, gingersnaps are not a favorite with my kids, but they are with Mike and maybe Nick.
You make some good points, Leah. Also, a rolled cookie will pick up more floor from the board, and if scraps are re-rolled, they will absorb even more flour. It is a consider to the flavor.
Hallie -- Those almost medicinal oat bran muffins are dry, dry, dry. We use a little oat flour for better texture, and you might try shorter baking time.
Muffins are also very personal. One man/woman's muffin is another's rock!
When I was a little sprout (in the 1940's), my mother made muffins that were, well...I guess you'd call them "hearty." They took the place or rolls for dinner. Corn bread muffins come to mind. And they were definitely not cupcakes. Then somewhere in the 80's I think, the lines were blurred between muffins & cupcakes. I'm a black & white person. Keep muffins muffins & let cupcakes go their own way.
So funny, Leah! Mike never uses the term "cupcakes" -- calls them all muffins. He says he can't tell the difference -- and evidently he isn't going to try.
Talk about super-sizing. Those great big breakfast muffins in the store are worth four of the muffins my dad used to make from scratch for breakfast. They weren't sweet either. We ate them with butter and whatever jam / jelly was going. It was a tradition I didn't continue, for whatever reason, but neither do we buy the big sweet "breakfast cupcakes."
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