Ginger Snaps

I really really wanted to make Chris's mom's recipe for Gingerbread cookies last weekend, but it was in my email and our internet had decided to stop working during the snow storm. So, I couldn't do that, but I had my heart set on gingerbread, and I already had the ginger, so I dug this recipe out from Alice Water's Simple Cooking.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (9.5 oz or slightly more) flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper (optional)
  
• 11 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup molasses
• 1 large egg, at room temperature

Directions:

1. Stir together the dry ingredients.
2. Beat the butter just until soft and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until smooth.
3. Stir in the vanilla, molasses and egg.
4. Mix in the dry ingredients gradually until the dough is smooth.
5. Divide the dough in two equal portions and roll each on a lightly-floured surface until each is about 2-inches (5cm) around. Don't worry if they're not perfect; you can neaten them up in a second.
6. Wrap each in plastic wrap then roll them lightly on the counter to smooth them out. Refrigerate for two hours, or better yet, freeze the cookie logs until firm (30 minutes or so).
7. To bake, preheat the oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
8. Slice cookie dough into 1/4-inch rounds with a sharp knife. Place sugar-side up on baking sheet, evenly-spaced apart. Leave a couple of inches between cookies since they'll spread while baking.
9. Bake for 10-14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets midway during baking, until deep-golden brown. The cookies will puff up a bit while baking, then settle down when they're done. Bake on the lower end of the range for softer cookies, and more for snappier ones, depending on your oven.
10. Let the cookies cool two minutes, then remove them with a spatula and transfer them to a cooling rack.

Results:

I really liked these. I under-baked them a little at 9 minutes, they should definitely stay in for at least 10. They were definitely not snappy. I didn't add the pepper, but I think I might the next time. Undoubtedly not as good as Kathy's recipe would have been, but now that the Internets are working again I'll give that a shot soon.