Recipes are much more than a blueprint for preparing food. Recipes can be our connection to the past…and to the people we love. And that was so true yesterday when I stumbled upon my mom’s Ginger Crisps cookie recipe.
I was feeling very nostalgic and a little sad in our much-too-quiet house after our amazing, fun-filled Thanksgiving weekend spent with all of our grandkids and their parents. Those family memories are priceless to me…especially at my age.
I began to think of my wonderful childhood. And, as usual, my thoughts turned to my mom.
So I reached for the recipe box I had inherited from her almost forty years ago…
and I stumbled upon this ancient Ginger Crisps recipe card I had never seen before. It was handwritten, in pencil, by Mom! It was truly a warm holiday hug…direct from Heaven!
The thought of filling my kitchen with the sweet holiday scents of ginger and cloves and molasses sent me straight to my mixing bowls.
Meemaw’s Tip: When measuring anything sticky like molasses or honey, first spray your measuring cup with cooking spray. The sticky liquid will slide right out!
It wasn’t long before I had recreated Mom’s Ginger Crisps Cookies…with a few alterations. Since I don’t bake with lard, I substituted unsalted butter. And I left out the English walnuts this time. (I’m sure Mom didn’t mind. In fact she probably expected it, since I always was a little bit of a rebel!)
I chilled the dough, then I rolled it into small balls. Then I rolled the balls into a bowl of sugar.
I placed them either on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray, or onto a Silpat lined cookie sheet for baking.
The cookies puffed up while baking…
And then suddenly collapsed!
At first I thought I had done something wrong…and then I could almost hear Mom’s voice telling me…”Patty Ann…Please re-read the title of my recipe!”
Right. They are Ginger CRISPS Cookies. So they should be flat to be crisp!
There was no baking time specified on that yellowed card, so I guessed at ten minutes. I was close. I would say 10-12 minutes, depending on how crisp you want the cookies to be. And I let them firm up on the cookie sheet for a minute or two before moving them to a rack to cool completely.
You can see that these cookies flatten a lot, so make sure to give them plenty of room to spread out if you want to keep them perfectly round and not smooshed together. (I learned from my mistakes.) My cookies turned out to be crispy on the outside and yet slightly chewy…a perfect combination of textures.
Yes, Dear Readers…Even though Mom has been gone almost forty years, she was with me yesterday in my cozy kitchen.
And I hope some day, forty years from now, our precious grandkids will feel a warm and loving hug from ME if they recreate these Ginger Crisps for themselves.
A warm and loving hug…From a recipe box filled with memories.
- 2 C. flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2/3 c. lard (I used unsalted butter)
- 1 c. sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 c. molasses
- 1/2 c. finely chopped English walnuts (I omitted them this time)
- extra sugar for rolling
- Combine sugar and butter in a mixing bowl mix well.
- Add egg and mix.
- Add the molasses and combine.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt.
- Whisk dry ingredients together to combine.
- Stir walnuts into flour mixture if desired.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well.
- REFRIGERATE DOUGH for at least 15-20 minutes.
- Use a teaspoon to scoop up dough and roll into small balls.
- Drop dough balls into a bowl of sugar to coat.
- Place on greased cookie sheet (or use a non-stick Silpat sheet on your cookie sheet)
- BAKE at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes
- Remove from oven and allow to remain on cookie sheet for several minutes to firm up.
- Finish cooling on wire racks.
- You decide how crispy or chewy you want to make these delicious cookies! Bake less for chewy and more for crispy. Either way, your kitchen will smell like the holidays...and your family will love you!
Linda Short says
Great recipe…wish I liked ginger!! maybe I could do it without it??
Meemaw says
Sorry Linda…Making a ginger cookie without ginger kind of defeats the purpose! (I’ll make a batch this winter and give you a taste…I bet you’d like them since all the other spices work so well together.)
Jane says
How many cookies does this recipe make?
Meemaw says
So sorry for the long delay in answering your question Jane…but it’s hard to say how many cookies this recipe will make since everyone chooses the cookie size they like best! I’m thinking I usually get about 3 dozen cookies based on the size I like. Regardless of the cookie size I hope you like them as much as I do!
Happy New Year and Happy Baking!
XOXO
Meemaw
Sara Broers says
What a fun memory! Isn’t it amazing what cookies can do for us. Have fun in the kitchen this holiday season.
Meemaw says
Thanks Sara…And I hope you make some memories at YOUR house too. The holidays are meant for sharing…in so many ways!
Dorothy Rogers says
They look so yummy! Nice that you discovered the recipe. Ginger cookies are one of my favorites❣ ? Will definitely be trying this recipe.
Dorothy
Meemaw says
Thanks Dorothy…I think you’ll LOVE them! 🙂 And let me know what you think…
Maria Stuart says
They sound perfect. I bet they would be great with a dish vanilla ice cream.
Can’t wait to try these!
Meemaw says
Thanks Maria…Ice cream sounds like a good match. Let me know how you like them!
Dorothy says
I have that same recipe box !! I hope someday one of my children or grandchildren will want it.
It also has many of my old recipes and some from my mom and grandmom.
Meemaw says
I hope so too Dorothy! Be sure to tell your kids and grandkids how special that box is to you…and share some memories about some of the recipes inside. (Who made the dish…When you ate the food…Who was around the family table when you shared the meal.) That way your family will pass those stories and recipes on to future generations. (And we all know how food a be a bridge from one generation to the next!) Thanks again for sharing! 🙂
Helen says
Those cookies look so good. Must have been fun making them and thinking of your mom and all the wonderful times you had together.
Meemaw says
Thanks Helen! It felt like Mom was right there next to me in my kitchen! I’m always amazed at how recipes and food can trigger memories of the past. In fact…today I had an experience that was almost FIFTY YEARS in the making! I was able to go back to a place where many of my most wonderful childhood memories were created! It will take some time to write the resulting story…but stay tuned. It truly was a hug from Heaven…but this time it was from my Grandma Grady!(She was born in 1869!) Aren’t memories wonderful? (And thanks again for your comment Helen!)
Anne Hendrix says
Your mom’s handwriting looks so much like my mom’s! As we are in the same generation, I bet our moms were too. They really taught beautiful handwriting back then. I have a few recipe cards in my mom’s handwriting, and my mother-in-law’s too. They are treasures for sure. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Meemaw says
Thanks so much for your comment Anne! Sounds like we were BOTH blessed with wonderful mothers. It was a wonderful time to be a child…way back then! And DO make those cookies. I hope you’ll like them as much as we do.
XOXO
Meemaw
Meemaw says
Thanks for stopping by! I love sharing my family recipes with all of you…and I hope you make a batch of these cookies. Your house will smell like Christmas! (And that’s a GOOD thing!) 🙂
Dolores Eberly says
My husband found this recipe & I made them for him today. I am not a ginger cookie lover but this one is wonderful.
The only change I would make is I would make the balls a little bit bigger. This recipe yielded us 45 cookies & did not spread out as much as your photo showed.
He is so happy that he finally found the cookie of his “DREAMS.”
I noticed your pie dough recipe, that one is next.
Thank you & many Blessings!
Meemaw says
Awww…Thank you SO MUCH for your kind words Dolores! Sometimes the good old-fashioned recipes are the best! I’m glad your husband enjoyed them!
Happy Baking!
XOXO
Meemaw