Ann's Ginger Snaps

     Winter sends me inside to hibernate as much as possible; it also sends me to the cupboards looking for comfort foods. Mind you, I totally understand that this is

• part psychological; relating to the foods you enjoyed at positive times during childhood,
• part boredom; there is nothing to do, therefore I will eat,
• and part basic, human survival instinct; following the call of the wild, it is colder, my body wants warmth and thus asks for foods that create fat within my physical body.

     Due to the past recent holiday, I went way off the deep end and ate too many fatty, sugary, and salty foods. Salt and I do not get along, I have Meniere's disease. This means that my body doesn’t process salt in an effective way; instead it stores salt up and causes pockets of fluid to build. This creates additional problems which end up reducing my ability to hear and causes dizziness. So, for me, January is the month of self-induced diet that greatly (if not totally) reduces the salt and sugar content of my foods. 

     That said; I love to bake. I take recipes that are tried and true, and then change them with a few tweaks; I also make up my own recipes that people tend to love. My favorite winter foods include ginger. Even though I need to eliminate salt and sugar from my diet for a while, I still bake for other people. Sometimes having the scents of your favorite food can be just as comforting as having the tastes. Below please find my recipe for ginger snaps. You will find others on the web and in books, but this has just the right amount of spice to delight your tastes buds without biting back. Watch out though, my cookie recipes can become addicting!

The tricks with this recipe are:

• Using both brown and white sugar increases the depth of taste
• Adding a bit more cinnamon changes the spice to a delightful surprise
• Using orange juice inside the icing adds a marvelous contrast to the spice

 

Ann’s Ginger Snaps
3/4 cup butter		1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar		2& 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar		2 teaspoons baking soda
1 egg		1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup molasses		1 teaspoon ground cloves
		1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Mix together the sugar, oil, molasses, and egg
Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger
Combine the two mixes
Roll dough into 1 1/4 inch balls
350° F. 6 to 10 minutes. They are done when you can touch the tops of the cookie without leaving a dent.
Cool on wire racks.
Icing	Sift confectioners’ sugar into a bowl, then stir in water until smooth. Evenly brush tops of cooled cookies with icing. Let icing set, about 1 hour.
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons orange juice
Makes 2 to 3 dozen