On the Trail of the Perfect Ginger Molasses Cookie

I started thinking about a ginger molasses cookie I had once. It was both crunchy and melt in your mouth chewy. It was spicy and not too sweet and had those little cracks in the "crust" of the top. But where to buy another one? Then, said I, "Hey, girl! You have a kitchen. You have a stove. You even have a mixer. And you can read. Make some."

Stepping up to the challenge, I found an old recipe card in my mother's handwriting for Ginger Cookies. I changed the shortning [sic] to butter and went for it. It called for the boiling of the shortening, sugar, molasses, and vinegar before mixing in the rest of the ingredients. They were cakey and smooth.

Next I found another recipe that also was a boil-the-molasses recipe but the proportions were very different and didn't call for vinegar.

It is hard to find a cookie that I completely dislike, but I am on a mission here. These were definitely not fitting the memory template of that perfect cookie.

I decided to move away from the boiled mixture and go with the cream-the-butter-and-sugar type. This is the last one I tried. Looks right but doesn't taste right. They were very bland. The texture was nearly there, however.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter

2 cups packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs

4 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons ground ginger

3 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Cream the first four things and then add the other four things. Then I rolled them in good turbinado sugar. Bake about 7 minutes at 350.

These were pretty good. Had the texture and the little cracks, but they lacked the ginger-y flavor even with the 4 teaspoons. So I eyed the bulk ground ginger I got from the co-op (I love them but who knows how long that was sitting in the jar there.)

Ah, yes, my dear Penzey's! So I checked the catalog and sent for a good Chinese ginger. The next batch is going to be essentially the same but using the good ginger.

If you are searching for the very best of anything, you shouldn't get discouraged if after three tries, you haven't found it!