'Sparkly' Gingersnap Cookie Recipe

Gretchen Holt-Witt is the founder of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a nonprofit that raises much-needed funds to help fight childhood cancer. Below, she shares the recipe for her sugar-splashed gingersnap cookies, which will be on the menu at her organization’s second annual Chefs for Kids’ Cancer dinner in New York City on Thursday.

Photo courtesy of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer

Tried-and-True Sparkly Gingersnaps
Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies

If you are hosting or contributing to a cookie exchange, don’t forget these impossible-to-eat-just-one favorites. Be sure to package them by the half-dozen or dozen to give your bake sale supporter enough cookies to enjoy on the way home with some left to share later. (If you’re having a summer bake sale, consider making vanilla or even lemon homemade ice cream and pairing it with sparkly gingersnap crumbles for the perfect topping.)

For the sparkly ginger sugar:
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

For the cookies:
1 stick (1/4 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
3 tablespoons dark molasses
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
11/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350?F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

To make the sparkly ginger sugar: Place the sugar and ginger on a plate and mix until combined. Set aside.

To make the cookies: Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and molasses, one at a time, beating well between additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Place the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a separate bowl and mix well. Add to the butter mixture and beat until everything is well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again.

Break off small pieces and roll into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the sparkly ginger sugar and place 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Using your hand or the bottom of a water glass, press down until flattened. Transfer to the oven and bake until the cookies begin to brown at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and repeat with the remaining dough.

More cookie-centric stories that should be on your radar:

This is what happens when you bake Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream

How to make Dorie Greenspan’s stained glass cookies

The most perfect gingerbread cookies, from Bouchon Bakery

What’s your go-to cookie recipe? Tell us below!