The summer is winding down.  Even though the days are still warm, the sun has dropped out of sight by 8PM, and the nights are cold.  I refuse to say it’s fall, as there’s technically still a week or so of summer left.  However, the fragrance of cooked spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger encourage me to think of the arrival of fall and the coziness that comes with it.

These were one of the first cookies I baked unassisted as a child.  I can well remember rolling the balls of dough in sugar and placing them in lines on the cookie sheets, carefully putting drops of water onto the sugared top of the unbaked cookies.  This “crinkles” their tops, and creates a bit of crunch.

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Makes about 4 dozen

Ingredients

3 c flour

1 T baking soda

½ t salt

½ T ginger

½ T cinnamon

½ t nutmeg

½ t ground cloves

1 c butter

1 c brown sugar

1 egg

⅓ c fancy molasses

White sugar for rolling

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

In the bowl of a mixer beat the butter on medium until creamy.

Add in the brown sugar and beat for 2 minutes.

Add in the egg and the molasses and beat until smooth and uniform, cleaning the sides of the bowl as needed.

With the mixer on low, add in ½ cup of the dry ingredients at a time and beating until smooth.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°

Roll the dough into balls just over an inch across.

Roll the balls in the white sugar.

Place them 2” apart on lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheets.

Drop a couple of drops of water on the top of each cookie.

Bake for 9-10 minutes, rotating the trays half way through the baking time.

Cool on wire racks.

Enjoy with glasses of cold milk!