Christmas Cookies 1.0 - Ginger Cookies

Friday night I decided to launch the Christmas baking season with a classic - ginger cookies! Yeah. No big surprise. I have made this particular ginger cookie for a couple of years now. It's based on a recipe from The New Canadian Basics cookbook and it's fabulous. If you need a fool-proof cookie that tastes like Christmas, look no further...

Ginger Cookies

3/4 cup shortening, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
sugar for coating

In large bowl cream together shortening and sugar. Beat in egg and molasses. In separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, salt and spices; blend in to creamed mixture. Shape into balls 1 inch in diameter. Roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cookies will be slightly soft when removed from oven. Let cool on baking sheets for a few minutes then remove to racks to cool completely.

This batch of cookies will likely find their way into school lunches this week. We also enjoyed a few (okay, maybe more than a few) while we decorated our Christmas tree. We finally received a dusting of snow that made our outside Christmas greenery look particulalrly festive so we couldn't resist brightening up the inside as well.