Ginger Creams
Cookies
from Earl’s Café courtesy Jeanne's
cousin Corrine Hanson
1 cup sugar
½ cup shortening
½ cup butter or margarine
1 cup molasses
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
5 cups flour (give or take a bit)
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon ginger
4 teaspoons soda
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Preheat oven to 350°. Grease cookie sheets, or spray with vegetable oil such as PAM.
Cream together sugar, shortening and butter.
Add molasses, eggs, and sour cream, stirring slowly at first to avoid splashing. Beat
well. Add a cup of the flour and the cream of tartar, ginger, and soda. Blend well. Stir
in the rest of the flour. Mixture should be soft but able to be rolled out. (Sort of like
fresh play dough, if you know what that is like!) Depending on humidity, the size of the
eggs, and variables beyond your control, you may need a little more or a little less than
5 cups of flour to achieve this. Sprinkle flour on a scrupulously clean surface. Roll out
half of the dough, about ¼ to 1/3 inch thick. (If you are not used to judging dough
thickness, actually get out a ruler and measure the first time or two you do this!)
Dip
cookie cutter into flour and cut dough into circles or shapes (see note). Remove scraps.
Carefully lift the cookies onto the greased sheet, using a wide spatula. With all that
soda, these babies puff up and spread out, so don’t crowd them on the pan. Give them
each an inch or so to grow. Re-flour the surface, and repeat rolling and cutting with
other half of dough. Gather up the scraps, smooch them together into a ball, and roll it
out. Cut into shapes. Don’t try re-rolling these scraps – just bake as-is and
enjoy an odd-shaped sample. Bake 10 to 15 minutes. (Lightly touching them should leave
almost no imprint.) Cool a minute or so on pan, then remove to wire rack to finish
cooling. Frost (see note).
Shape Note At Earl’s Café these were huge rounds,
about 4" to 5" inches across. If you want to be authentic and you don’t
have a cutter that big, try using the rim of an appropriate sized plastic bowl. Seasonal
shapes and gingerbread kids are also fine. Or use Tupperware’s Animal Wigglers to cut
seven cute animals at once, with very minimal scraps.
Frosting Note Earl’s Café had these covered with
pink icing. You can use icing or a creamy frosting. You younger folks may be surprised to
hear this, but before frosting grew in cans, people actually made icing like the
following:
Powdered Sugar Icing
Beat together until smooth:
2 cups powdered sugar
approximately 1 Tbsp milk or water (add 1 tsp at a time, until proper consistency to
spread)
a few drops of food coloring (optional)
Thanks Jeanne G
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