She made them better than anyone else could: small and perfect rounds, soft and sugared. And then sheβd make them in miniature, the size of an American quarter, just for the little people.
We called her Tiny Grandma, and her hallmark cookies? Ginger.
I have her recipe, and when I bake her cookies I remember a lady I loved, though I canβt match her product. She was a careful bakerβCool the melted butter to room temperature; use your fingertip to scoop the last egg white out of the broken shell. Her work never varied, unless of course she forgot something. She did make pumpkin pies once without the pumpkinβ¦
Grandma’s Ginger Cookies
ΒΎ cup margarine
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
Β½ cup molasses
4 Β½ cups flour
4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. saltMelt and cool margarine. Add sugar, eggs and molasses and beat well. Add dry ingredients. Chill dough, then form into 1β balls. Roll in white sugar and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375Β° for 7-8 minutes. Do not overbake; when they crack, take them out, and let them finish baking on the cookie sheet.
Sometimes I make ginger cookies when I miss her. And this season, I copied my aunt and tried something new: filling them with lemon buttercream and sticking them together as sandwich cookies. Or with coconut cream filling. You won’t believe itβheaven!
Buttercream Filling
10 Tbsp. butter, softened
3 Β½ cups powdered sugar
Dash of salt
1 tsp. vanillaBeat ingredients wellβfrosting will still be crumby until liquid is added. Divide in half. To one half, add
2Β Tbsp. lemon juice
and beat till fluffy. To the other, add
2-4Β Tbsp. whipping cream
Β½ cup coconutand beat.
Frost the underside of one cookie and stick it to anotherβmaking some sandwiches with coconut buttercream and some with lemon. Place cookies in an airtight container and leave alone for a day to soften, so the filling does not squeeze out when you eat themβ¦ if you can wait that long [wink].
Then… enjoy.
And that’s all the news from the Zooks for the year!
Merry Christmas, folks. See you in January!
What a shame!!
Corrupting Ginger cookies with filling.
Well, okay, I didn’t frost ALL of them. Had to leave about half the batch to eat plain…
But Green Eggs and Ham comes to mind: “You do not like them? So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may! Try them and you may, I say.” π
I’m starved.
Merry Christmas to you.
The party happens at my house….. bring any left overs.
Already on a plate in my freezer, ready to come. Couldn’t resist sharing. π
I love how details fall in to place.. last evening at our discount grocery store I grabbed some reduced ginger cookie mixes. Now I only have to make that butter cream stuff. Never mind if Grandma’s recipe outdoes the mix. I will never grow to mature taste cause when I see something fluffy and creamy between cake or cookies I pin it, mark it, make it! Merry Christmas! -Alison
These showed up at our cookie exchange last year and I loved ’em! So I made them again this year – only my recipe has a cream cheese icing with cinnamon and they are a sandwich cookie to begin with. The first day they were a little crispy or chewy, but the next day, Wow! Wonderfully soft and a perfect match to a cup of coffee.
I love any kind of icing sandwich cookie but never considered ginger. Must try.
Thanks, Gina