Old-Fashioned Amish Ginger Cookies
By Kevin Williams
Well, what about Mrs. Howell Cookies? Or MaryAnn Cookies? Ha! Okay, Ginger Cookies it is. Sorry, dopey joke. Ah, I used to love that show Gilligan's Island. The mystery of why a group of people going on a simple 3-hour cruise brought enough clothing with them to last a lifetime has never been answered (although, when we go camping for a weekend I feel like we pack enough for a year, so maybe that's the answer). It was a fun show. So whenever I hear Ginger I think of the seductive siren named Ginger on Gilligan's Island, not the spice. But ginger spice (isn't that one of the Spice Girls?) has its own allure. My brother-in-law loves the taste of ginger, I'm sort of borderline. I'm not a huge ginger ale fan, but I sure love these ginger cookies. And with the holidays creeping closer, this seems like a good one to share. This is a great cookie to make and enjoy around the holidays.Ginger is a spice found in many Amish homes, but it is often reserved for holiday baking: gingerbread men, for instance, or some good, gingery cookies. This is a recipe from the Amish Cook archives.
- 2 cup shortening
- 3 cup molasses
- 1 cup sugar
- 11 c flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (hint: to make your own sour milk, add 1-2 teaspoon vinegar/lemon juice to regular milk and let sit a few minutes)
- In a non-stick pan, heat molasses, sugar and shortening until melted.
- Add milk, stir until smooth and remove from heat. In another bowl mix dry ingredients together. Stir in liquid ingredients.
- Stir till you have a smooth dough.
- Don’t worry, dough will seem too soft -don’t add more flour.
- Chill dough in refrigerator for an hour.
- Roll out ½ inch thick and cut out with a 3 inch cutter.
- You can glaze with a beaten egg or sprinkle with coarse sugar (sometimes called sanding sugar). If you are in a hurry, after chilling roll the dough into 2 ½ inch balls and dip into sugar, flatten gently onto cookie sheet.
- Bake 350F for 20-25 minutes.
Jacqueline Williamson
Just reading the recipe for ginger cookies, which I absolutely love. I have a question though. For the amount of cookies the recipe makes, eight dozen, I think adding only a teaspoon of ginger is way too little. I make abatch of 2-3 dozen and use a tablespoon of gimger. I also add lots of crystalized ginger, diced, for extra flavor. Could you possibly have erred in the amount stated? I am. Ew to your site and have enjoyed it, so keep up the good work.
Kevin
Jacqueline - First, welcome! And, second, hmmmm, good, good observation. The recipe does say 1 teaspoon, but I looked at similar recipes online just now that make FOUR dozen cookies (half the batch this one does) and they call for 1 teaspoon....sooooo, especially if you like ginger, my advice is to double the ginger to two teaspoons. I don't think a tablespoon is out of bounds for this 8 dozen recipe, so use ginger according to your taste is my best advice, - Kevin