Gingersnap Cookies

When Aunt Patty died we thought she had taken the recipe for gingersnaps with her. Cookies were a big deal for Patty. She made them for everyone, the kids especially, but she even made cookies for me, for my horse camping trips. The gingersnaps were special, because they were my dad's (Patty's brother) favorite. Patty and I worked on the perfect gingersnap recipe together, but when she died I realized that I didn't have it, and no one else did either.

Patty in a beautiful blue dress in 1993.

I made some cookies for my niece who was spending her first year away at college, and she thanked me by saying they were good, but they were not Patty's gingersnaps. Sigh. And then suddenly my mom came up with a slip of paper in Patty's handwriting at the back of her recipe box.

This is it, the lost recipe, the one I worked on with Patty. These are the best gingersnaps ever, and please do think of Patty when you make them. Better yet, please call them Patty's gingersnaps, nothing would make her happier.

Patty's Gingersnap Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together:
1/3 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1/3 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar

Add and beat until fluffy:
1 egg
2 teaspoons of baking soda mixed into 1/4 cup molasses

Sift together:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
2 cups flour

Add the flour/spice mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and stir until well combined. Roll dough (about a Tablespoon) into small balls, then roll balls in sugar (sanding sugar makes a pretty, sparkly cookie). Space about 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet, and bake for 8 - 12 minutes. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring the cookies to a rack to finish cooling.