Tasty Tuesday: Soft Ginger Cookies

My family is a bunch of cookies monsters. I could make a batch every other day and they would be happy. Every year we make these ginger cookies. They're big and soft and very yummy.  Jake likes gingersnaps; he likes these even more.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour                       3/4 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons ground ginger                        1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda                             1 egg
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon                 1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves                       1/4 cup molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt                                        2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

He's getting so good at measuring.

Reaching down deep for the sugar.

Pretty soon he won't need my "help" at all!

Rolling the balls is the fun part.

He kept trying to flatten them into pancakes.

Half of the Batch

Alyssa was napping when we made the cookies. Jake asked, "Shouldn't we wait for Alyssa?" He even wanted to save a beater for her. Such a good big brother! Then he asked if we could make cookies from scratch. When I explained that is how we always make them, (Is there any other way?) he said, "No, I mean make the ingredients and then put them in." Apparently I'm not challenging him enough. Next week I'll have him make a souffle.