Aunt Lois' Ginger Snaps

Zac and I decorating gingerbread
houses, Christmas 2009

Christmas isn't Christmas until someone has baked gingerbread!  My Aunt Lois always made great ginger snap cookies and this is the treasured recipe.  My son Zac loves ginger cookies and these are always a request during the holidays.  The nice thing about this recipe is that they can be left in balls to make a thicker softer cookie or flattened out a bit for ginger snaps ... Zac likes the thicker ones but Aunt Lois always liked the snaps for dipping in her tea, you decide what is your favourite!

Ingredients
2  cups of flour**add more flour if the dough is too wet
1/2 tbsp of salt
1/2 tbsp of baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp of ginger
1 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon
1/8 tbsp of ground cloves **if desired
1/2 tbsp of ground nutmeg **if desired
3/4 cups of margarine or butter at room temperature
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/4 of dark molasses
1 egg

-Combine dry ingredients and set aside
-Cream butter and sugar together
-Blend in the molasses and egg, continue until the mixture is lighter in colour and no longer looks curdled
-Add dry ingredients and mix well
-Section off small portions of dough using a teaspoon keeping them uniform in size
-Roll in granulated sugar and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper approximately 2" apart

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes checking at 10 minutes.
Cool on rack and enjoy!