“To appreciate the beauty of a snow flake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.”

yes! snow, at last.

I love the first snowfall. There's something about it that's so comforting. Now it could be because I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday and I somewhat resemble some sort of forest creature... but I do enjoy being inside and watching the snowflakes gently fall. I've decided today for my first recipe to share with you all will be some hot gingersnaps. I absolutely LOVE ginger. It very well may be one of my favorite ingredients. I use it in almost everything I can. Something my family enjoys to do with 2 other close family friends of ours is have Sunday "brunch". It's such a fun tradition, but of course it can be stressful as well. What we do, is each family takes turns hosting the brunch. So this brunch involves appetizers, wine, the main meal, and of course dessert. It's more of a feast. I mean, it's usually the only meal I eat that day... aside from breakfast, of course... my most favorite meal of the day. So this recipe is one of the recipes I used for one particular brunch that we had. It was "ginger" themed. So we had candy ginger, some sort of dip with ginger, ginger fishcakes, a salad with a ginger lemon dressing, and for dessert we indulged in ginger baked apples and some delicious chewy hot gingersnaps! yum!

hope you enjoy :)

Emma

Hot Gingersnaps

Inspiration: The Joy of Ginger

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp vinegar

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

4 tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

pinch of salt

1/4 cup preserved ginger, finely chopped

4 tbsp candied ginger, chopped

1. Bring the butter, molasses, brown sugar, and vinegar to a boil. Stir just until the butter is melted and then let cool to room temperature.
2. Sift all the dry ingredients together and add to the molasses mixture. Add the preserved ginger and candied ginger (if you don't have preserved ginger, do not panic! The cookies won't be as "hot" but you could substitute by using 1/2 cup more flour and as much candied ginger as you like). Mix well, then knead.
3. Divide the dough into 2 logs, wrap in plastic, and put in the fridge until firm enough to cut
4. Slice the cookies thinly with a sharp knife, and bake on a greased cookie sheet in a preheated oven at 350F for 5-7 minutes.

VOILA! delicious, sweet, sugary treats :)

These work great for storing in jam jars and giving as christmas gifts.