Crisp Ginger Spice Cookies

Whenever I need some inspiration, I go to Martha. What can I say? She knows everything! So, anyways, I was flipping through her baking handbook, more looking at the pictures than really reading, when I saw a picture of some cute gingerbread men. Yes, that is what I decided to make. Gingerbread men. A classic right?

And then, I remembered these... a cross between gingerbread men and gingersnap cookies. My mom's favorite. My mom actually doesn't like gingerbread. I am not sure why, but it has never really been her taste. Then one day, a family friend brought over a batch of these lovely, crisp ginger spiced cookies, and my mom could not get enough of them. And now I have decided to adapt them into my own repetoire.

Nothing says Christmas like the smells of ginger and spice!

Crisp Ginger Spice Cookies

Makes about 6 dozen cookies

1 cup Unsalted Butter

1 1/4 cup White Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 Eggs

1/3 cup Molasses

3 cups Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

2 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

2 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

2 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in vanilla, eggs, and molasses.

Sift together all dry ingredients and stir into the wet. Pour the dough into a baking dish lined with plastic wrap (20 by 20 cm). Press the dough into the pan, and cover with plastic wrap. (This will make square/rectangle cookies. For round cookies, divide the dough into 2, form into logs with plastic wrap). Place in the freezer overnight.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Farenheit).. Remove the cookie dough from the freezer. For the square cookies, remove the dough from the pan, and cut into thirds so you have 3 square logs. Or for the round cookies, just unwrap the logs of dough. Cut the logs into thin slices (about 2 mm thick), place on lined baking sheets, and bake for about 12 minutes until brown. Let cook on a wire rack.