Stratford Hall Ginger Cookies

    Many different ginger cookies have come out of my oven, but this recipe is one that I keep coming back to. It's a chewy ginger cookie rather than a snap, and it partners as perfectly with a nice cold glass of milk as it does with a cup of hot tea or spiced cider. We like these spicy treats year round at my house, but when fall rolls around it just seems wrong not to have them in the cookie jar.

     The recipe hails from a local landmark, Stratford Hall Plantation. Stratford is the ancestral home of four generations of the Lee family of Virginia (including two signers of The Declaration of Independence), and Birthplace of General Robert E. Lee. The cookies are a tradition at their Candlelight tour at Christmas time, and many folks look forward to sampling their gingery goodness.

    
     We prefer the cookies on the chewy side, but if you'd rather have more of a hard ginger snap perfect for dunking, just forget leave the cookies in the oven for a bit longer. Either way, they'll be grand! :)

Stratford Hall Ginger Cookies
printable recipe available here
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter, melted (3 sticks)
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
4 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
granulated sugar (for coating balls of dough)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Sift or whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together melted butter, molasses and sugar.
• Add eggs and mix until combined.
• Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir until all flour is incorporated.
• Refrigerate until firm, about 1-2 hours.
• Roll walnut-sized balls of dough in granulated sugar.
• Place on parchment covered baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes, or until set and lightly browned. If you want a crispier cookie like a ginger snap, just let them stay in the oven a bit longer. If you want a softer cookie, bake until just set.
• Cool on the cookie sheet a couple of minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
• Yield: about 5 dozen