Ginger Molasses Cookies

 

Ginger Molasses Cookies are definitely in my top 3 favorite holiday cookies.  I love the warmth of the cinnamon spice, the crackly tops and the chewy texture.  Utterly delicious!   My favorite recipe comes from Mandy at Baking With Blondie.  

Here's the part where I diverge from my normal baking protocol.  To ensure I get a great chewy texture on my cookies I tweaked Mandy's recipe slightly by replacing the butter with butter-flavored Crisco shortening.  What?!  Shortening instead of butter? Yes way!  Now, before you cast dispersions on me, hear me out.  I find that using shortening reduces the likelihood of these cookies spreading too much during the baking process.   Nothing worse in my opinion than a super flat ginger molasses cookie.

Normally I roll the dough balls in turbinado sugar before baking, but this year I left some without the sugar coating because I wanted to dip them in melted white chocolate.  I was a bit worried that the addition of white chocolate would render the cookies too sweet, but I'm happy to report I was wrong.  I only dip a small portion of the cookie in the chocolate so it's not overwhelming.  Plus, nothing beats the appeal and aesthetic of the green and red holiday sprinkles.