October! A favorite month and one that gets me thinking of spicy sweets with lots of cinnamon and ginger. So it was a lovely synchronicity when my dear friend Maloah mentioned her family’s old recipe for gingersnaps, which I immediately requested. What better treat to hand out out to Trick or Treaters on Halloween? As fate would have it, Maloah’s mother, Buffy Treat, included that particular cookie recipe in a cookbook she lovingly edited back in the 80’s for the Heifer Project International. “Peace begins where the hungry are fed,” says the cover of her book. And I found some used copies still for sale on Amazon, to Maloah’s immense surprise and delight!
Here’s Buffy’s treasured family recipe:
Gingersnaps
2 cups sifted flour
1 T. ground ginger
2 t. baking soda
1.2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molassesSift the dry ingredients. Cream the softened butter. Gradually add sugar. Add egg and molasses. Beat. Sift dry ingredients over wet ingredients. Shape dough into small balls. Roll the balls in granulated sugar. Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350ª F.for 12-15 minutes until tops crackle. Cool on rack.
Personal tweaks: I doubled the ginger and I rolled the doughy balls in a heavier sugar, called evaporated cane juice, which I’m accustomed to using when I top my scones.
Here are my gingersnaps, out of the oven, served, appropriately, on one of my Grandmother’s plates. They are so delicious!
I have heard loving stories about Buffy Treat (don’t you love her name?) for years. So I must include a picture of Buffy with four of her six children here–all four of her beautiful daughters. Doesn’t she look like the most wonderful mother and wouldn’t you want to inherit a cookie recipe from her? I’m so glad Maloah and her sisters did, and that I have permission to pass along to all of you.
Thanks so much, Maloah, for sharing your special recipe with us this Halloween. These cookies will add a festive cheer throughout the holiday season.
Love and holiday blessings,
Kathryn xoxox
Book News: I am delighted to announce that I’ve been invited to do a booksigning at Depot Bookstore and Cafe in downtown Mill Valley on November 1st, noon-1:00PMish. If you are around and available, I’d love to see you in person! I’m so looking forward to being there!
Posted on October 20th, 2014 by Kathryn
Filed under: People at Play
Yum! Those look so good, and I definitely agree with doubling the ginger portion. Lovely pic of Maloah and family, and very kind of her to share her mom’s recipe.
Love,
Antonia
Xoxo
Hi, Antonia! Yes, very yummy! Best gingersnaps I’ve ever made. Definitely a good family recipe. Looking forward to sharing with you! Love, Mom xoxo
Oh… I also love the autumn and for me the autumn smells like pumpkin latte and cinnamon. That recipe which you suggested sounds just amazing and these cookies looks very delicious. I will definitely try this recipe! Regards!
Hi, Emma, and welcome! Pumpkin latte and cinnamon does sound lovely for autumn! And, yes, this truly is the best gingersnap recipe I’ve come across! I will definitely be using it again! Enjoy! Kathryn xoxo
I love love LOVE me some gingersnaps, I will attempt to make these! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Hi, Annie and welcome! You will happily discover how profoundly easy and quick these cookies are–and then you will have the pleasure of both eating and sharing them! 😉 Enjoy! Kathryn xoxo
I love ginger snaps also. I have Grandma Wilcox’s Grange receipe book wth the unique presentation of receipes by listing ingredients across the top of a chart, contributers along the side and quantities of each ingredient for that particular receipe along the line under the ingredient. A compact way of printing many receipes and easy way to compare them.
Hi, Alice! I had to google Grange Recipe Book–from the 1920’s! I have to admit to never having seen one! I will have to explore further. Thank you! Kathryn xoox
It was the Sherburne, NY Grange and the ladies contributed their family recipes…probably a fund raiser just as today but, yes, long ago.
Thanks, Alice! These recipe books must be an almost lost art. Kathryn xoxo
I have to admit I had to go google Grange again, and I knew nothing about the Grange movement. Here’s what I learned: President Andrew Johnson commissioned Oliver Kelley to go to the Southern States and to collect data to improve Southern agricultural conditions. In the South, poor farmers bore the brunt of the civil war and were suspicious of northerners like Kelley. Kelley found he was able to overcome these sectional differences as a Mason. With southern Masons as guides, he toured the war-torn countryside in the South and was appalled by the outdated farming practices. He saw the need for an organization that would bring people from the North and South together in a spirit of mutual cooperation and, after many letters and consultations with the other founders, the Grange was born.[1] The first Grange was Grange #1 in Fredonia, NY.[2] Seven men and one woman co-founded the Grange: Oliver Hudson Kelley, William Saunders, Francis M. McDowell, John Trimble, Aaron B. Grosh, John R. Thompson, William M. Ireland, and Caroline Hall.[