From Feasting at Home
Ingredients:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 extra lg egg
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups (380 ngrams) all purpose flour
- 3 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp ground ginger (plus 1 for more spicy)
- 1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp *pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp salt
Instructions:
- Cream butter and sugars together in a stand mixer or large bowl. Whip until tight & fluffy. Add egg, molasses & vanilla, and whip until combined.
- Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, nutmeg, pepper & salt together in medium bowl, whisk until well combined. If you can weigh the flour, do so. Otherwise fluff up the flour with a fork before measuring.
- Gradually add the flour to the butter mixture and mix well.
- Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight so you can easily roll them into balls.
- Roll into small, 1 inch wide, walnut-sized balls and coat all sides with coarse sugar or turbinado sugar.
- Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan, 3 inches apart.
- Bake 8-10 min in 350 degree oven, until edges crisp and tops begin cracking. They will puff up a bit, then flatten out, a nd this is what creates the beautiful crackling.
- Cool on a wire rack. They will crack more as they cool.
*Substitute white pepper