Soft Ginger Cookies

This recipe is probably my most requested and one of my favorite two cookie recipes...well, ever.  They're soft, chewy, spicy, and perfect.  With a description like that, there's nothing left to do but share the recipe and suggest you make them immediately!

Soft Ginger Cookies

Ingredients:

2 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsps ground ginger

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 Tbsp. water

1/4 cup molasses (I use black strap)

2 Tbsp. white sugar

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together first six ingredients and set aside.

2) In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg, then stir in water and molasses.  Shape dough into walnut-sized balls and roll them in remaining 2 Tbsp. of sugar.  Place the cookies approximately 2 inches apart on lined/greased cookie sheet.

3) Bake 8-10 minutes until done. Store in airtight container.

Recipe taken from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/big-soft-ginger-cookies/detail.aspx

Helpful tips

- The dough is sticky. Very, very sticky.  I find refrigerating the dough approximately 15 minutes help to form the balls more easily.

-For a more festive look, roll the balls of dough in colored sugar.