SANDRA'S SPICE 'N EVERYTHING NICE COOKIES

I was in a creatively baking mood today when I came up with this new recipe for these
light, lovely, and spicy cookies!

I've made this recipe so it creates only 3-1/2 dozen,
which works incredibly nice in a smaller batch for our 2-person household...

Yields: (3-1/2 doz)

Prep: 15 Mins.

Bake: 10-12 Mins.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus more for rolling cookie balls)

1/2 cup quality molasses

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon fine-grain salt

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Set a couple of baking sheets aside lined with silpat liners or parchment paper. Set a baking rack aside as well for cookies to fully cool. Place a 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl (to roll formed cookies into prior to baking).

In a stand mixer bowl, add butter, sugar and molasses, and beat to combine. Add egg and vanilla extract; mix to combine. Place a sieve over wet ingredients and add flour, baking soda and powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; sift over top. Mix dough just until fully combined. (Do not over mix or cookies will become tough.)

Using a miniature scoop, scoop up dough to evenly form 1" balls and roll in sugar in the small bowl. Repeat until all cookies are formed. Place cookies 1" apart on prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes (softer cookies) or up to 12 minutes (crispier cookies). Once cookies are done, leave hot cookies on sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to baking rack to fully cool prior to storing in an airtight container. ~ Enjoy!