So over the holidays since I had and still have no money, I just made a ton of baked goods to bring to parties and treat my friends. Mr. Chokkattu’s favorite cookie is the gingersnap, small and crispy and normally purchased for like $6 from the store only to be demolished in 2 hours or less.

If your significant other is similar, you should try this cookie recipe and maybe buy yourself a heart cookie cutter.

Happy Valentine’s Day Mr. Chokkattu.

I adapted this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, whom I’ve followed for at least 5 years now if not more, who adapted it from other recipes herself.

Gingersnaps

Yield: Really a lot. Like at least 90 1.5 inch diameter cookies but definitely more than that. I eyeballed them and they came out nicely, but if you want them perfect, weigh them.

Dry ingredients

2 1/4 cups (281 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2 to 3 grams) table salt
4 teaspoons (20 grams) ground ginger
2 teaspoon (10 grams) cinnamon
1 teaspoon (5 grams) allspice
1 teaspoon (5 grams) coriander
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 grams) ground white pepper

Wet ingredients

2 sticks (8 ounces or 227 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (96 grams) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup (79 ml) unsulphured molasses

Deb recommends adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of finely grated fresh ginger (with the wet ingredients) or 1 to 2 tablespoons of finely minced candied ginger (with the dry ingredients) for a more gingery kick. I didn’t do this, but I like the idea and so will leave that suggestion here too.

Whisk together everything dry: flour, baking soda, salt and spices. In another, larger, bowl, beat butter and sugars together until fluffy (off-beige in color and spiking up a little.) That will take about 15 minutes by hand and much less time if you have a mixer of some sort, which I don’t. Add the egg and molasses and beat until combined. Add dry ingredients until just combined.

Transfer the dough to plastic wrap. It’ll be pretty soft. Chill in fridge for at least two hours according to Deb, but I left mine for 2 hours, and then re-refrigerated and continued to use the dough through out a week. I felt like the 2 hour batch and the batch I made that night did affect the flavor, with the one made that night and subsequently throughout the week having a more pronounced spiciness. I don’t have any science or even a second opinion to back that up though– Mr. Chokkattu seemed to think they tasted the same and no one else ate the first batch.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Roll dough into .75-inch-ish balls and spread at least two inches apart on greased tray (or baking mat or parchment like a serious baker, but I just had two trays and a dream.) I have 2 18×12 inch trays and I could make 30 cookies per tray, but I would be extra careful about sizing if you do this. If you’re cutting cookies into shapes, obviously you will not fit 30 cookies onto a similarly sized try, but I would recommend flattening the dough to a quarter of an inch thickness, and then refrigerating them in their shapes before baking, in order for the bake time to work for you and the shape to keep.

Bake for 15-17 minutes. That will make extra snappy cookies the way Mr. Chokkattu likes ’em, but if you want softer cookies cook them less by like 2-4 minutes. Let them cool for at least 5 minutes, and make sure they’re room temperature before packing or wrapping them up a la broke girl gifts.

Tune in next time when I post the most okay-est chocolate chip cookie recipe and seriously ponder adding chia seeds to them. WILL I OR WON’T I?