Gingersnaps aka Pioneer Woman Molasses Cookies

I have a hard time giving Pioneer Woman credit for these, because 15 years ago my sister-in-law, Jen Blackham, gave me the gingersnap recipe her family had been making for years and gingersnaps have been part of my family's Christmas tradition ever since. The Pioneer Woman recipe is identical, except for the addition of cardamom. I'm not sure if the cardamom adds much, so if you don't have it, don't go spend the $8 on it. (Or if you live close, give me a call! I have two bottles.)

Now PW doesn't say to refrigerate her dough, but I'll tell you that if you don't you will have a very flat cookie. Which isn't necessarily a disaster--we used our first batch of flat cookies with pumpkin icecream to make icecream sandwiches and they were delicious. But I prefer my gingersnaps slightly undercooked and a little puffy. So I refrigerate before baking, and then take them out of the oven just after they start to crack.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Sugar
• ¾ cups Crisco (vegetable Shortening)
• ¼ cups Molasses
• 1 whole Egg
• 2 cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Ground Cloves
• 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Cardamom
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 2-½ teaspoons Baking Soda

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix sugar, shortening, molasses, and egg together until well combined. Dump in dry ingredients, stirring dry ingredients together lightly. Mix together until dough is combined.

Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, or overnight.

In your hands roll dough into walnut-sized balls, then generously coat each ball with sugar. Place balls on a baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, allowing to bake for about a minute after cookies begin to crack.

Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool…although these are delicious while still warm.

Spicy Pretzels

My friend Stephanie shared this recipe with us a few years ago. It is FABULOUS. The only bad part of the recipe is the wait. You can start eating them immediately--but you really shouldn't. They are so much better once they've "marinated" a bit.

Take gallon ziploc bag and add

3/4-1 cup of OLIVE oil

1 package of dry Ranch dip

1 tsp of lemon pepper

1 tsp of garlic powder (do not use garlic salt)

3/4-1 tsp of cayenne pepper

Mix that around....and then add a bag of pretzels. I usually add pretzels to the top of the bag and then toss bag around and mix up. Every 20 mins or so, move the bag around to mix up the seasoning.

They are best the longer they sit so if you want them for a party tomorrow, make them tonight or early tomorrow am.

Notes from Steph: I think the best pretzels to use are Kroger WINDOW shaped pretzels. I know Rold Gold puts out a Xmas pretzel, which I think are at Walmart and I hate going there..but I usually do a bag of window pretzels and then some of the Rold Gold twists.

I do not like Snyder pretzels...they do not hold the coating well and they have hardly any salt.