Ginger Molasses...Paradise Bakery Style

I've been looking for a recipe equivalent to the Ginger Molasses cookies sold at Paradise Bakery.  Gotta admit, they are my almost ultimate weakness and I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing they're sold seasonally.

Well, it's almost Spring, and my efforts in finding the "just right" recipe became more crucial!  When February is over, I will only have my dear memory {oh goodness} to compare my attempts to the real deal.

The first place to look, as always, is from family recipes.  My grandma has an awesome Ginger Snap recipe, but they are hard and stick in your teeth for days.  I couldn't find anything else.

The second place to look, with optimism, is the Internet.  I had opened almost 20 tabs with recipes, cutting and pasting the ones I wanted to try and compare.  It seemed like the ones with more ingredients {argh} turned out better.  Though none of them really displayed any pictures like the ones from Paradise.

Well, the experiments began....and FAILED!  Miserably.  Some had not enough flour, which ended up producing something like Ginger Molasses Fried Chips.  Others had too much flour and were fluffy. {blah}.

Just when I had about given up, I found a recipe that my Great Aunt Edna had written down by her own hand, copied by my Grand-Aunt, in a cookbook that I was tranferring into loose leaf sheet protectors.  PERFECT!!!  Not only was this recipe time tested, it was GOLDEN!  The ingredients looked right, the proportions looked okay...and with some tweaking, I finally produced what is ALMOST EXACTLY like the Ginger Molasses Cookie from Paradise Bakery!!!  {of course, it's not going to be exact! It's got Craner-Flava!}

So, while I still might get a copy-right/Patent for it, it's here for the general public use for now. :)

"Soft Ginger Cookies"
Edna Hopkins

1 1/4 C Butter (yes...WOW!)
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1 1/2 C Molasses
1 Egg
2 tsp. Ginger
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp All Spice (ground)
5 C + 2 C.** Flour (NOT PACKED, as loose as you can get it without sifting), Separated
1/2 C Boiling Water
3 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt

Directions:

Add ingredients in that order.  If you're using an electric mixer, Kitchen Aide, Bosche, etc., make sure you treat the dough as though you were mixing by had, stirring until all ingredients are just mixed together.  The consistency of the dough will feel a lot like sugar cookie dough: thick, easy to shape.

When adding the flour, add 5 C. straight and mix together.  Then add the remaining 2 C. **AFTER YOU ADD THE BOILING WATER**, and mix well--almost kneading dough.

Separate into 2 in. balls (rolling into sugar, and coating with powdered sugar are all optional) and press a little flat with spoon or fingers.  The cookies need to be bigger or they will be too dry when you bake them.  You can fit about 8 balls on each cookie sheet.  No need to use non-stick spray, the butter will take care of that!

Bake 375ºF for 7-8 minutes.  Let cool on the cookie sheet.  Re-flatten them with a spoon.  The cookie will look doughy at first, but will settle hours after cooling completely.  Sprinkle with Powdered Sugar.

The BEST thing about these cookies is that they're better the next day, as they will not lose their softness.  ENJOY!!!