I adore ginger cookies. Chewy, thick, slightly spicy, a bit of crunchy sugar on the outside. They feel like the ideal holiday cookie to me. 

Somehow, I didn’t have a recipe for such a cookie though. And I really wanted to include one in my holiday treat series. So, I did what I often do: I asked the best bakers I know for their recipes.

Jackpot! Two friends, one a professional pastry chef and one an excellent home baker, passed along their favorite ginger cookie recipes. I sat down with the recipes and a cup of tea to figure out which one would meet my needs best.

And I realized they were the same recipe.

Well, almost. There were a few changes. One had shortening, the other an equivalent amount of butter. One had a wee bit of cayenne pepper added to the same spices that the other used. One called for chilling the dough; the other did not. One baked at 350 degrees, the other at 375.  

But the essence of the recipe remained the same: cream fat and sugar until fluffy. Add molasses and an egg. Gradually add in flour mixed with leavening and spices. Roll into balls, roll in sugar, bake until cracked.

Even the proportions of the ingredients were exactly the same, down to the spices.

Did my friends (who haven’t ever met) get their recipes from the same source?

Nope. One got her recipe from a friend years ago, a photocopy from a cookbook in which this friend had lovingly written notes. (“2/5/05: Used unsulphured mol. plus tad of maple syrup. Good.”) The other made some tweaks to a recipe she found on a blog, Gimme Some Oven. That blogger noted that she had no idea where the recipe originated but that her mother had given it to her on a recipe card when she went to college.

As a baker, my instinct is often to seek out the original ginger cookie recipe. 

But what if it doesn’t matter? What if the idea of a brand-new, original, never-before-created recipe is a false one? 

We all learn from and are inspired by someone else in the kitchen, whether it be a friend, a relative, a cookbook author, or a chef at a delicious restaurant we just tried. Can we ever separate ourselves from the context of all that we have read, heard, seen, and tasted when it comes to cooking? Can we ever claim to cook in isolation?

No. 

To me, this is the essence of a recipe: someone makes food, inspired by something she saw or tasted, and enjoys it. She shares how she made it with a friend. That friend shares it with another friend. And the sharing continues, every cook making her own tweaks to the recipe based on her experience.

Marolyn suggests rolling the dough in turbinado sugar. Jenn adds cayenne pepper for an extra kick. Holley recommends cooling the cookies on the pan to help them stay chewy. 

Every time the recipe is shared, the imprints of those who have made it before are there. We are never truly alone in the kitchen. We rely upon the inheritance of generations of communities adapting and experimenting. 

I like this image. The idea that all these hands and minds and hearts have touched a recipe before I have grounds me. It reminds me of the best part of the holiday season: how it connects us to the traditions of our families and communities while also leaving space for new inspiration and ideas.

Bringing together the old and the new.

These cookies were everything I was hoping they would be. Even my husband, not a big fan of heavily spiced desserts, loved them. A bonus is that because they used shortening rather than butter, they're dairy-free for those with dairy allergies; they also don't require any chilling time. Turbinado sugar makes the surface of the baked cookies extra crunchy and pretty. If you don't have it, you can use granulated sugar for rolling instead. 

Chewy Ginger Cookies

Adapted from an unknown cookbook, my friend Janel, her friend Marolyn, my friend Jenn, and Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (Marolyn says you can substitute up to 1 cup whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger (Jenn suggests adding some fresh minced ginger as well if you have it)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch cayenne pepper (Jenn says this is an optional, but welcome addition)
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 large egg
1/2 cup turbinado sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.  

In a large bowl, whisk together the first 7 ingredients (flour through pepper, if using). Set aside.

Place the shortening and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl if using a hand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the molasses and egg, and beat again at medium speed until thoroughly combined, about 30 more seconds. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until just combined, stopping to scrape the bowl once. 

Place the turbinado sugar in a small bowl. Scoop out a rounded tablespoon (or rounded #70 scoop) of dough. Using your hands, roll it into a ball about 1-1/4" in diameter, then roll the dough ball in the turbinado sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, placing balls about 2" apart. 

Bake until cookies have cracked on top and just a small dent remains when you touch a cookie, about 12 minutes, making sure to rotate pans midway through baking. You may be afraid that the cookies are too squishy and underbaked. Fear not. This is what we want. 

Remove pans from oven and leave cookies on pan to cool completely. They will flatten slightly, firm up, and crack more as they cool. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container for a few days. Yield: about 2-1/2 dozen cookies.