This Year's New Christmas Cookie

Gingersnaps may be a favorite on the cookie platter for many people, but I've never been a fan of them. However, Michelle wasn't necessarily planning on baking Christmas cookies, so when I suggested doing so, we had to find a recipe that didn't need shortening or nuts or chocolate chips or food coloring. We found one, and it's actually a recipe I'll make again sometime! 

The recipe came from a Friend article, "Christmas Cookies around the World." There are a few other recipes that made it to the "to try" list as well, including Swedish Heirloom Cookies, which look like our favorite Russian Teacakes, just without the nuts, and Scottish Fancies.

Pepparkakor (Gingersnaps)

• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves*
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (dissolved in cold water)
• 5 cups flour

Melt molasses and butter together in saucepan. Add water and sugar.** Stir in spices and baking soda. Add flour and mix well. Roll dough 1/8″ thick*** on lightly floured surface. Cut in shapes with cookie cutter. Place 1″ apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375º for 5 to 6 minutes. Cool slightly and remove to rack.

* There were no cloves in the spice rack, so I omitted them and doubled the cinnamon. Maybe that's why I liked this recipe! I also used 1 cup of wheat flour and 4 cups of white flour in this batch.

** Note that the instructions don't say how much water to use to dissolve the baking soda. I added it to the 1/2 cup water already in the ingredient list. It foamed quite a bit when I poured it into the molasses/butter mixture, but that was actually kind of cool. Just make sure your pan is large enough to handle the mini explosion.

*** Normally I prefer thicker cut-out cookies, so I started rolling them out closer to 1/4" thick. Those didn't hold their shape as well, so pay attention and follow this direction if you want pretty cookies. Note that we also sprinkled a bit of sugar on the cookies before baking, because these were meant to be Christmas gifts and we wanted them to look pretty. I imagine you could also frost them if desired.

These cookies got packaged with Chocolate Crinkle Cookies and Homemade Caramels. I think that's a perfect assortment for the neighbors, and I hope they agree! 

When I got home, I wanted to make another batch to share with our friends. I should have checked the pantry before going grocery shopping, but I didn't, and there was no molasses in the cupboard when I started making the cookies. No problem! I used honey instead, and substituted brown sugar for the white sugar. I did have cloves in the pantry, but left them out again anyway. I also creamed the butter with the sugar, instead of melting it with the molasses/honey. Oops! There turned out well in spite of my mistakes. Isn't that nice?

Note: We also tried a second new Christmas cookie. Cuccidati was part of our experimenting with figs, dates AND raisins.