‘The Joy of Cooking’ 1974 edition was the last one before recombinant foods took over. Following editions rely heavily on canned, frozen, pre-prepared ingredients, not to mention the dreaded science oven. Several of my most favorite recipes have their foundations in that book. One of which is Ginger Snaps.

This cookie is probably the upper limit of my sugar tolerance. That doesn’t seem to slow me down though.

The tear across the top is what makes it a snap. I’m not sure exactly what causes it, but using the stand mixer stops it every time.  Mix by hand.

The molasses is key. The blacker and thicker the better. I prefer these smaller and mostly use the one ounce disher. They tend to spread more than I like with the three ounce. But two ounce does pretty well.