I made heart-shaped gingersnaps for you!  Heart-shaped!  Isn’t that precious?

Even if you’re not so much a fan of this holiday I feel fairly certain you will be a fan of these cookies.  They are chewy and they kind of stick to the roof of your mouth a little bit, but in a good way.   A nice antidote to all of the overly sugary treats that seem to be ever-present on this holiday.  Enjoy!

Aunt Big’s Gingersnaps (from “How to Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman)

• 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 heaping teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• 3 ½ cups (about 1 pound) all-purpose flour
• 1 heaping tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt

Use an electric mixer to cream the butter, sugar, and molasses until smooth.  Mix the baking soda with 2 tablespoons hot water and beat into this mixture.

Mix together the flour, spices, and salt in a bowl; stir them into the butter mixture and beat well.  Shape into 2 long rolls, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Slice the cookies as thinly as you can, place ungreased baking sheets, and bake about 10 minutes, watching carefully to prevent burning.  Remove from sheet when still warm and cool on a rack.  Store in a covered container at room temperature for several days.

If you wish to roll out the dough and use cookie cutters as I have here, take dough out of refrigerator 15 minutes before beginning to work.  Roll out thinly on wax paper using a rolling pin and cut shapes with desired cookie cutters.