Soft and Chewy Gingersnaps for Secret Recipe Club

It's been a perfect fall weekend - bright and sunny with a slight crispness in the air and leaves falling everywhere. And to top it all off, it's Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day! The blog we were assigned for October was Mommy's Menu, written by Toni, a stay-at-home-mom who has a fantastic recipe index filled with all sorts of delicious delights.

Some of Toni's recipes that sounded particularly good for this weekend included Caramel Apple Marshmallow Dip, Super Duper Hot Chocolate, Smokey Chipotle Chili, and Homemade Pumpkin Puree. But even though we always claim that we are not really into making desserts, it seems that something about the Secret Recipe Club brings out the bakers in us. For some of this year's SRC's, we've made Brownies with a Twist, Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake, Meyer Lemon Bars, and Golden Cinnamon Buns, for example. This month, Toni's Soft and Chewy Gingersnaps sounded so easy and so yummy and so perfect for this time of year, we just went for it.

And they were both easy (done in about 1/2 hour, including baking time), and yummy (we got 42 cookies out of them and we each ate 4 or 5 straight out of the oven), and perfect for this time of year (our house smells amazing). We love Toni's suggestion of crumbling them over ice cream topped with caramel sauce. Doesn't that sound fabulous? 

Soft and Chewy Gingersnaps

recipe from Mommy's Menu

Ingredients:

3/4 cup vegetable shortening

1/4 cup molasses

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 1/4 cups flour, sifted

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch ground cloves

1/4 cup granulated sugar 

Preheat oven to 375. Cream together the shortening, molasses, brown sugar and egg. Add the dry ingredients and mix together until well combined. Form into small balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place (staggered, as they will spread) onto a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.

UPDATE: Click here to see what was done with one of our recipes!