“Bendy” Cookies

Mix together the shortening and brown sugar until it reaches a creamy consistency. Stir in the egg, molasses, and vanilla extract and mix well, then fold in the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger) until completely incorporated.

Then the super-important part: chill the dough for 1-2 hours or until firm. If you’re impatient like I am, trust me, it’s worth it to wait. The hour in the fridge makes your life easier when rolling the cookies, and helps them keep their shape better so you get pretty, all-the-same-size-and-shape cookies.

Once the dough has been chilled, roll it into small balls (roughly 1/2″ diameter or so) and then roll again in the white sugar until completely covered.

Bake on cookie sheets at 350ºF for 8 minutes and let cool on the sheet for a minute or two before removing.

Note: I like a good amount of salt to contrast with the sweetness of the molasses and sugar, but if you don’t want to taste it as much, feel free to reduce the amount by half.

This recipe yields about 40-45 cookies.