Recipes from Aunt Flora -- Ginger Crisps

l-r: Aunt Flora, Grandma Roa, Aunt Teddy c. early 2000s at Grandma Roa's apartment

I found this while going through photo albums last week. It's appropriate to add this photo as we're undertaking the baking of Flora's family recipes. Aunt Flora and Grandma Roa were sisters. Aunt Teddy is the widow of Roa and Flora's brother Wayne. We visited Aunt Teddy on the RiverTrip 2010, but it was a bittersweet visit, as our sharp as a tack Aunt Teddy is receding more and more into a world that only she knows. She sure did love our Grandmother and Aunt Flora though.

Ginger Crisps

1 ½ cup shortening (marg.)
2 cups sugar
½ cup molasses
2 eggs
5 cups flour
5 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Cream together shortening and sugar.
Add molasses and egg. Mix well.
Sift in dry ingredients. Mix well.

Form into 1 ¼ inch ball. Roll in (additional sugar).
Bake 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet.
375 degrees, 10-12 minutes.

These are really good gingerbread cookies. They come out of the oven a bit soft, and then as they cool they firm up. If pressed down, they might be more like crisps. I left them as balls, just for fun.