Ginger Lovie Cookies

I never seem to have the family recipe I need when I want to cook or bake something. I was itching to bake ginger snaps the other day but didn’t have the recipe from my mom. I tried using a random recipe I found online only to discover why ginger snaps are called ginger snaps. Typically, they are a hard cookie. . . hence the name “snap”. I grew up eating soft ginger snaps, so that was what I wanted.

My mom texted the recipe to me, and I whipped up a batch shortly thereafter.

Justin and I are in a small group through our church and they have quickly become our core group of friends. I set out some ginger snaps on a plate at the beginning of our time together, and it didn’t take long for the plate to become virtually empty.

Our friend Bobby, out of nowhere, suggested a new name for the cookie.

“Ginger Lovies is what they should be called. Either that or ‘Disney Christmas Ginger Miracle Lovies’.”

He then enlisted the taste-testing services of our resident cupcake baker by suggesting she eat a cookie and decide whether or not the name was fitting.

We all sat and watched her chew, and once she had enough time to process the cookie, she agreed that, “Yes, it is a good cookie! I don’t know what ‘disney christmas ginger miracle’ means (nobody did!), but that’s a good name for it.”

In the end, we decided on ginger lovies just to keep it simple and leave Disney out of it. And Christmas. Because you can make these year round regardless of whether or not you live in Disney World.

Now that that riveting story is over, I’ll share the recipe.

First things first, if you know how your oven bakes things, that will help. Mine is gas so it runs hot, so I set it to 350 degrees instead of 375 degrees. Adjust that as you need.

Ingredients for Ginger Lovies

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup butter

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Instructions:

1. Lightly grease cookie sheet (I used Pam).

2. In a mixing bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. Blend well.

3. Stir in remaining ingredients. Blend well.

4. Refrigerate dough for easier handling (about an hour).

5. Heat oven to 350-375 degrees, and pour some sugar in a shallow dish.

6. Shape dough into 1 inch balls, roll in sugar, and place on baking sheet.

7. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool for 1 minute on baking sheet prior to removing. Let cool on a cooling rack.