This is the quintessential cookie that signifies fall is in full swing and the holidays are soon to follow. One of my all-time favorites, tough to stop at one and it just makes a cup of coffee taste that much better. Easy, reliable, and oh so satisfying.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup shortening, I use Crisco
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour
1 tsp. each cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves
2 tsp. baking soda
turbinado raw cane sugar, for rolling

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven 375º
First, cream the shortening, sugar, egg, and molasses, until well combined and fluffy. Meanwhile, combine the dry ingredients and whisk them together. Next, add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture and fully incorporate. Finally, take a small scoop of dough and roll into a ball, then dip and roll in the turbinado sugar to fully coat. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10 minutes. Do keep a close eye on them, all ovens are different and that could affect the timing on these.

NOTES
If you don’t have turbinado sugar, not to worry, you could use regular sugar with similar results. The turbinado sugar just adds a little extra crunch that is a nice addition. Also, to add a bit more zip in the cookies, I often chop a bit of crystallized ginger and add it to the batter. Undoubtedly, whenever I do, I get rave reviews.

TIPS
Although many of you may already do this, I want to share this secret anyway. For all of you that have not tried this, I think it is a definite game-changer. This little trick comes in very handy when I’m baking with the little ones and I don’t want three dozen cookies in the house because, truth be told, I can’t stop eating them!

So, here it is. I make the cookie batter, cook what I want…maybe just one sheet pan full, for a small get together or just enough for me and my helpers. Then, I scoop the remainder of the dough, make dough balls and place them onto a sheet pan. Put as many on the pan as you can fit, then pop them into the freezer.

Then, after about 30 minutes in the freezer, pull them out, remove from the sheet pan and place them in a reclosable plastic bag. Make sure to mark the cookie name, cooking instructions, and the date. That way, you can pull them out, at a moment’s notice, you don’t even need to thaw them first and bake however many you want. I do this with all of my cookie batters, it’s a great way to keep us from eating two dozen in short order! Additionally, it is nice to have a selection of two or three to pick from at any given time.