Ginger Crinkles

Fourth of July weekend in Sapulpa. The whole family at Aunt Linda’s for the Monday-the-fourth cookout — me, Dustin, Brayden, Mama, Cody, Aunt Linda and Roy, Aunt Patty and Bobby with Hannah and Hayden, Roy Calloway, plus the Bryant grandparents who had driven up from Memphis Tuesday afternoon the week before for the start of their thirteen-day visit.

The Bryants and the Carltons (Mama’s side) had not all been in the same room since the courthouse-wedding nineteen months ago. The Fourth-of-July cookout was the second-ever full-family cross-side gathering. The first had been at the wedding. The second was the cookout. Brayden was the connecting figure. Carol and Mama spent the cookout in the kind of low-key matriarchal alliance that two grandmothers build when they have decided their grandchild is the priority and their differences are negotiable.

I had brought ginger crinkles for the cookout’s dessert table. The cookie is Carol’s — old-fashioned ginger crinkles, rolled in granulated sugar before baking so the surface crackles into the characteristic crinkle pattern as the cookie spreads and the sugar caramelizes. The cookies are soft-and-chewy in the center and slightly crisp at the edges. The molasses and the powdered ginger and the cinnamon and the cloves give them the holiday-spice profile that reads as Christmas to most palates but works equally well at a summer cookout because the cookie itself is so simple.

Sunday I baked at the apartment in Tulsa. Three dozen cookies, two layers in the wax-paper-lined tin, ready for Monday’s drive to Sapulpa. The kitchen smelled like Christmas. Carol had been at the apartment Sunday morning watching me bake and had asked if I had been able to make the cookies in advance. I told her the cookies were the ones she had taught me to make in November.

Ginger Crinkles

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup for rolling
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Combine dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves until evenly mixed.
3. Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and 1 cup of sugar together with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
4. Add wet ingredients. Beat in the egg, molasses, and vanilla extract until fully combined and smooth.
5. Mix in the flour. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
6. Shape and roll. Place the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar in a shallow bowl. Scoop dough by rounded tablespoons, roll into balls, then roll each ball in the sugar to coat evenly.
7. Bake. Arrange dough balls 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 9–11 minutes, until the tops are cracked and the edges are just set. The centers will look slightly underdone—that’s exactly right.
8. Cool. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. They firm up as they cool and stay chewy for days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 95 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 85mg