Ingredients
Method
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar and butter on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until smooth, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients, beating just until combined.
- Divide the dough into two equal portions. Lay each portion of the dough on a piece of parchment paper generously sprinkled with flour. Sprinkle the top of the dough with more flour, and cover it with another piece of parchment paper. Roll each ball of dough out between its two pieces of parchment paper, to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Stack both pieces of rolled dough on a baking sheet, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking sheets by lining them with clean parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Remove one portion of chilled dough from the refrigerator and remove the top sheet of parchment paper. Cut out the cookies using a 2- to 2-1/2 inch round cooking cutter. Using a thin spatula, gently place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, leaving several inches between cookies. You can roll leftover dough scraps into a ball and roll them back out between floured parchment sheets as mentioned in step 4, and cut out more cookies. The dough softens very quickly and becomes hard to work with. If it gets too soft, put it back in the refrigerator until it firms up. Meanwhile, you can work with the other chilled portion of dough.
- Sprinkle the cookies with the coarse sugar and bake them for 10 minutes. When the cookies are done, they will be puffed and look dry; the will flatten as they cool.
- Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 2 to 3 minutes before placing the cookies on a cooling rack to cool completely. Store leftovers in an airtight container. I think they are crispier and taste even better on day two!
Notes
Scandinavian gingersnaps come in all kinds of shapes: stars, hearts, gingerbread people, pine trees, reindeer...basically any fun Christmas shape you can think of. For this particular recipe, however, circles end up looking the best. These cookies puff up as they bake, then flatten out as they cool, which makes other shapes look distorted. But the circles look consistently beautiful, and every bit as authentic.