It’s that time again! Just like last year (when I made my mom’s Famous Peanut Butter Cookies), I’m participating in Love and Olive Oil’s Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012!

This year, I made my Soft & Chewy Gingersnaps!

We recently made twelve dozen of these and have been sharing them with everyone. They’re perfect for a Christmas party, as a gift for your neighbors, or dunking in your morning coffee! I like them fresh out of the oven with a dollop of Cool Whip on them. Their chewiness is a surprise when you bite into them and the molasses and ginger keep them from being too sweet for seconds.

They’re the perfect holiday cookie!

Soft and Chewy Gingersnaps!

Yield: Approximately three dozen cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. molasses
2-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
Sugar for rolling

Prep:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (~180 degrees Celcius)

2. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter until white and fluffy. This will take about 3 minutes on high speed.

3. Add the egg and molasses to the creamed mixture. HINT: Try spraying your measuring cup with a little non-stick spray before measuring your molasses. It’ll help the sticky stuff slide right on out. You won’t even need a spatula.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Slowly add to the wet mixture. I find it best to put my mixer on low-ish speed and work in three batches with the dry ingredients (otherwise you and your kitchen end up covered in flour). Mix until just combined. Over mixing will result in one tough cookie (and while that may be desirable in a personality, it’s not so hot in a cookie).

5. Add about a cup of sugar to a large paper plate. Using two spoons (or a tablespoon disher), drop several balls of cookie dough into the sugar. Completely cover with sugar, then roll into loose balls. You don’t want to smash them… keep things nice and loose.

6. Space the sugar coated cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes. HINT: This time may vary widely from oven to oven. You want the cookies to look just underdone when you pull them out of the oven. They continue to cook once you pull them out, so if you wait for them to be done in the oven, they’ll end up overdone.

7. Place on a cookie rack too cool, then store in an air tight container for up to a week (if they last that long!).

These are quite possibly my favorite cookies of all time. I love how spicy and chewy they are! I only make then around Christmas, but I could eat them all year long!

Have you made any Christmas cookies yet this year? What’s your all-time favorite cookie recipe?