Recipes

Festive Gingersnaps

It wouldn't be the holidays without a handful (or two) of scrumptious gingersnap cookies – and this recipe is tops!

By Catherine RBarr /

Credit: Catherine Roscoe Barr

Gingersnap cookies: the perfect marriage of crunchy and chewy

Beautifully packaged cookies – like these yummy gingersnaps – make a great holiday gift!

We spent the weekend before Christmas in Whistler with our dear friends Ryan and Lisa. We hiked out to find the perfect Christmas tree, sipped wine by the fire and, best of all, gorged on decadent gingersnaps.

These were the best ones I’d tried (and tried and tried) so I was slightly concerned that Lisa wouldn’t divulge her recipe. Turns out it wasn’t a family secret but a lucky find from her good friend Google: Grandma’s Gingersnaps from allrecipes.com.

These cookies are the perfect marriage of crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. And I can certainly recommend dunking any leftovers in your Baileys and coffee the next morning.

I can’t remember if we both had the same idea or if one of us copied the other, but we both like to make large batches of cookie dough and freeze it so that, in a pinch, there’s always an easy dessert on hand.

Thank you Lisa for sharing this holiday treat!

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup margarine
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup white sugar for decoration

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a medium bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup white sugar until smooth.
  3. Beat in the egg and molasses until well blended.
  4. Combine the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; stir into the molasses mixture to form a dough.
  5. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll the balls in the remaining sugar.
  6. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
  7. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
  8. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Catherine Roscoe Barr, BSc Neuroscience, is a Vancouver-based writer, editor, and fitness professional. Before settling on the west coast she lived in Sydney, Toronto, Oregon, Montana, and practically everywhere in Alberta. She can be found jogging with her adorable dog, dining with her fabulous husband or voraciously reading anywhere comfy.