Time to get those aprons on!
Today, I made one of my most favorite types of cookies: molasses and ginger crinkles! I thought I would share the recipe here with you for fun.
Lets get started!
I'll walk you through the recipe here in this post. The full recipe will be listed at the bottom of this page for your convenience later - when you make your own crinkle cookies!
Please let us know how yours turned out!
Dry ingredients first!
Pour 2 1/2 cups of flour into a nice big bowl - soon there will be a lot in it!
Next add 2 teaspoons of baking soda.
Three of my favorite spices are next! Add in 1 1/2 each of ground cinnamon and ginger, then 1 teaspoon of ground cloves.
Your kitchen will smell like Christmas itself!
Add a pinch of salt (1/4 teaspoon) and then your dry ingredients are ready to be...
Mixed together and set aside!
On to the wet ingredients! Though...we actually start with 1 cup of packed brown sugar (which should be dry, not wet). Put that 1 cup of packed brown sugar in an empty bowl.
From there, we will add in 3/4 cup of cooking oil. Don't throw that measuring cup in the sink just yet, we'll be using it again in a moment!
Now, the next part Quinn had to help me on. Molasses jars can be very hard to open with their sticky contents, so to all you ladies out there, make sure you have a nice, strong man around like Quinn to help you out with it. After you have your molasses jar open, use the measuring cup you used for the oil to measure out 1/4 cup molasses. Because of the oil, the molasses will pour out nice and smooth!
And last, but not least, a single egg is all that needs to be added for this cookie dough to be ready for mixing!
Now mix all your wet ingredients together and pour them in to the nice big bowl of dry ingredients you had set aside earlier.
Now you're going to mix mix mix with a nice mixer till the dough is too thick to continue. Once this happens, roll up your sleeves and start stirring with a nice wooden spoon.
Boy, my siblings and I could tell you stories about wooden spoons. Namely, being spanked with them. Not that I got spanked often. You can ask my parents, it's the truth. Quinn also agrees he got spanked a lot.
Don't worry though, it hasn't done either of us any lasting emotional damage. Once you're done, all the flour should be totally mixed in. Make sure there's no white left!
Now's the time for your man (mine being Quinn) to light your stove and turn the gas on. Set your oven to bake at 375 F.
Pour some white sugar into a small bowl. (we're going to roll our cookies in sugar because it makes them extra good!)
Now, use a cookie scooper (or your hands) to scoop out cookie dough in 1 inch balls. This particular cookie scooper I got as a bridal shower gift from two girls I babysat for several years.
They knew how much I loved baking cookies, and they thought the most important thing I needed to have in my new kitchen was a cookie scoop! Thanks Rebecca and Melissa!
Roll the cookies in sugar and place them about an inch or so apart on a cookie sheet (no need to grease it, remember all that oil?).
Stick your cookies in the oven for 10 minutes. It may seem like an eternity, but try to wait! I promise these cookies are worth it.
Now don't those just look yummy? In fact, lets put the kettle on and make some tea! And after the tea is ready, maybe you could snuggle up with a blanket and your freshly made cookies?
I think that sounds like an amazing idea!
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Molasses & Ginger Crinkle Cookies
Adapted from the Better Homes & Gardens Ginger Crinkles Recipe
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
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1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
Stir together the first five ingredients plus 1/4 teaspoon salt, stir to combine. Combine the other remaining ingredients and beat. Add wet ingredients to dry mixture and beat well. Form one-inch balls with hands or cookie scoop. Roll in granulated sugar if desired (but you should!), then place two inches apart on un-greased cookie sheet for ten minutes in a 375 degree oven. Take out and let cool on racks. Seal in container for munching on later, or enjoy right away!
The sun shone bright through our windows this morning bright and early at seven am! This is exciting because we are slowly but surely gaining more and more light each day as we approach summer. 
Paper snowflakes are still up in several windows of the house, and with the sun shining through, it seemed like winter was really over...
It may not be coming just yet with snow being forecasted, but at least for today it felt like Spring, and we were going to enjoy it!
Abby, Quinn and I all piled in the car and headed out North Douglas to the beach. We knew the sunshine would be warm, the wind would smell of the sea, and the mountains would be beautiful against the blue ocean and sky. But first we had to get there! And there was a board walk in the way. A board walk that was still very icy and slippery in places where the sun had not yet reached them. 
