Oh Snap!!!

So I'm back from Iowa, where I made friends with the kind folks at the Twisted Chicken and McGregor Coffee Roasters--catering and crafty on the show we just wrapped. Among my favorite snacks were the snappy yet chewy ginger snap cookies Diana made us. Holy crap they're amazing...

Just because they're called "snaps" doesn't mean they should be rock hard, the way they usually come in those brown bags at the general store. You know, the general store on the corner that sells everything from leather cleaner to cowboy hats to eggs? Do you think the snap refers to a "snap of the tooth?" Regardless, these cookies are awesome and you should make them for all your friends until they turn into unfiltered molasses.

So here's the recipe.

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses (I use the unfiltered kind...dark and nasty baby)
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp salt (although I used a little more in one batch and it was DELICIOUS)

Cream together shortening and sugar. Add egg and molasses and beat well. Sift together dry ingredients and stir into the wet mixture. Refrigerate until chilled. Form 1 inch balls, roll in sugar, and flatten them out onto a baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Thus begins the addiction.

Chewy, moist, delicious. It's like Christmas all year round. Enjoy!

Wish you could have a gingery soft bite,
Foodsnob