At Christmastime, I bake gingersnaps. The Captain’s mother, the Admiral, always made gingersnaps for Christmas. It was my job to take up the flag, as it were, and carry on the tradition. I’m getting better, but they’re never as good as the Admiral’s. One thing she always did was to make a gingerbread man from the last bit of leftover dough. As I made the gingersnaps today, the last bit of dough looked to me like the shape of a deer’s head, so I cut out the rest of its shape. Then I still had enough to make a gingerbread man. This year my man has a broken leg so I gave the gingerbread man an aircast boot and two crutches. He looks a bit ghoulish but I’m sure he felt that way in his first days of hobbling around, so maybe it’s appropriate.
If you’re feeling inspired to make gingersnaps (and why wouldn’t you feel inspired after seeing these? – If I can do it, anyone can) the recipe follows:
Gingersnaps
Put in pot and let come to boil:
1 c. butter
1 c. molasses (I like fancy molasses but the other kinds work too.)
½ c. brown sugar
I let it boil for about a minute, stirring all the time. Remove from heat. Put in bowl. Be careful. The boiled syrup is VERY hot.
Add:
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground ginger
3 – 3 ½ c. flour
*Candied ginger pieces can be added to the dough. Also grated fresh ginger root may be added.
Cool in fridge for a few hours or overnight. I divide the dough into four pieces and then cool it. Otherwise it becomes a challenge to roll out as one big piece. The dough will be quite hard but don’t give up when you roll it out. Slice or cut with cookie cutter.
No need to butter the cookie sheet as the dough is buttery enough.
Bake at 350* for 8 minutes.
The cookies freeze well so it’s easy to haul out a few when friends drop in.
Yum and fun! Thanks for sharing 🙂 H xx
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Wish I could send you one through the keyboard.
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ooh, i’ve never made these and i love the unique ones you made –
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I was only going to make the usual “man” with the leftover dough, but the scrap I rolled out had broken to make ears for the deer, so then I thought, “Why not experiment?” It was fun.
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I guess it’s time I started thinking about baking Christmas biscuits. My gingerbread dough is similar but has more spices in it. The biscuits are soft, not like snaps.
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Oh yes, that’s also very nice. I like the soft gingerbread. I may have to make some of that too. So delicious and Christmassy.
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Makes the whole house smell wonderful !
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Lebkuchen – the season has arrived 🙂
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Yes! There’s something about the smell of ginger at Christmas….
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WOW..has the Admiral had a “gander” at these cookies?
Love the crutches and that smile:)
Save some please XX
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We have some put away for you. 😉
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They look and sound delicious. Nice flourish with the last two!
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Hah! The poor deer ended up with burnt feet and the gingerbread man on crutches should have had the crutches under his armpits, not at the end of his fingers. Oh well – artistic?licence.
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That’s a great tradition!
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A tasty one too.
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Ohhhhh, Gingerbread Men! What a delight. Those remind me of Christmas in my youth, when we had them at home. My mother loved them on black bread [the real “Schwarzbrot”], with plenty of butter.
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I would never have thought of putting them on bread (even on GOOD bread). Thanks for sharing this tidbit, Pit.
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It still seemes a strange custom to me, and I can’t remember if I really liked it. Well, maybe I liked it just as well as the plain Gingerbread men.
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Please save some for me (I am not good at baking. I love your clumsy gingerman with the long long arms!
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Better hurry. They don’t last long!
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These look wonderful and very delicious! It’s a baking day today, so I must add these to my list! I am inspired to try this recipe. I had to laugh at the gingerbread man with the “crutches”. 😀 I have to say that it did remind me of an ape-like creature! As far as the deer goes, I thought you meant to darken the hooves a little. 😀 Good job!
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LOL The crutches should have been under the arms. DUH! I forgot about that. Still will taste good.
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LOL Tell the Captain it’s a pretty good representation!!!
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HAHA! He wouldn’t like that!!
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Great recipe, need to give it a go!
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We love it. And it’s easy. Just don’t lick the wooden spoon when you’re stirring the syrup. It’s HOT!
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hahaha, I love your whimsical sense of humor! Very cute, both of them. And I love your MIL’s name, The Admiral! That’s great!
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Yes, she rules the fleet.
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I assumed so!
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Ha, that was cute to make one in the shape of the Captain. Hope he’s recovering well. I’ve never made ginger snaps before. I’ll have to try these.
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