This recipe comes from an ancient Robin Hood flour booklet that formed the back-bone of my cookie making exploits for many, many years. There is no date, no copy write, no publishing information whatsoever inside, so I can sleep at night posting this recipe. My booklet is full of dollops of unidentifiable ingredients, some pages are stuck together, and cryptic notes fill the margins of the pages, things like, "do NOT double - massive quantity of dough". This recipe can be easily doubled, and friends and family might thank you if you do.
As a self-confessed chocoholic, I like cookies that contain copious amounts of chocolate or cocoa; these cookies contain none, yet they still deliver not only in the taste department, but also in the bring-back-the-good-old days department. Nothing takes me back in time like a home-made ginger cookie.
Ginger Sparklers
2 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup butter
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
Granulated sugar for rolling
Spoon flour into dry measuring cup. Level off and add soda, salt and spices; stir well to blend.
Cream brown sugar, butter, molasses and egg together thoroughly.
Add flour mixture to creamed mixture. Mix well.
Shape dough into 1" balls. Roll in granulated sugar and place 2" apart on greased baking sheet.
Bake at 375° degrees for 8 - 10 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from pan.
Yield: about 4 dozen cookies.
7 comments:
I have this same book with the same Ginger cookies......I received mine at a Tupperware party in '67/'68........as a gift.
I have used it for so long , & it is worn, & well used......
The kids always loved the ginger cookies, & still do, as well as the kids & grandkids now........
They have been made so many times.....Just had to share that, :), enjoy them ! Dianne
I know, aren't they the BEST? I recently brought some over to an 80+ year old friend, and she declared them the best cookie she had ever tasted. What a compliment!
Thank you for sharing your memories!
I love this recipe as well! I've made it for years. This year however they turned out flat as pancakes! I remade them being careful not to over cream and same thing!? Any ideas?
Hi Sarah, thanks for stopping by!
My only guess is that you used too much butter?! Before the digital scale entered my life, my cookies sometimes flattened out too much, and I attributed this to my generous butter measurements. Now that I weigh my butter, I don't have this problem anymore. In fact, I just measured out the ingredients for these cookies since they're first on my baking agenda tomorrow morning, so I can tell you off the top of my head 3/4 cup is 170 g! I find when I bake these cookies in summer, they spread faster and remain flatter than they do in winter. Maybe try chilling your dough before shaping? I bet your flat cookies still taste great!
Happy Holidays - hope the rest of your holiday baking goes better!
I love these cookies! I add 1 cup of crystallized ginger pieces (as per my mother-in-law's recipe) and they are incredible! I also freeze them before I bake them (375F) for 10 min from frozen 1" balls. They come out of the oven perfect. They are fat (not flat) moist little cookies. Hope this helps! Thanks for sharing your great recipe!
Hi Alyssa - thanks for stopping by! I hope I brought back some good ol' memories! I've had the version with crystallized ginger before, and keep meaning to add that to my shopping list. Next time, next time! I'm also going to try your method of freezing before baking, although I don't normally have any issues with the outcome, it's still good to know.
Thanks for posting this cookie recipe. I have a Robin Hood cookbook, "Bake A Little Love", I bought in the 70's in Ontario, Canada but for some reason was missing the one page that had Ginger Sparklers. I had made these scrumptious cookies many times but not for some time and was upset the recipe was missing. It is a favorite cookbook, in a yellow vinyl covered 3 ring binder style, 9 x 7.5". It is well worn but still in pretty good shape. Some pages have some baking stains...haha. Thanks again!
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