Old Fashion Ginger Snaps

I have been in search for a good, crispy, ginger snap cookie recipe; a cookie that actually snaps (as opposed to being soft) and a cookie that has the right combination of molasses and spice.

The nice thing about these cookies is that you don't have to roll them out. You just roll them into ping-pong sized balls and flatten them our with your fingers (or you can use a fork or the back of a spoon if you want to keep your fingers clean).
These cookies flatten quite a bit in the oven, so watch them closely so that they don't over-brown.

Old-Fashioned Ginger Snaps
From Janienne Jennrich found on the website www.suite101.com
Pictures by Caroline

3/4 cup shortening
1-cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbsp molasses
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves (I used 1 tsp to make the cookie a bit more spicy)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger

Directions:

1. Cream together shortening and brown sugar until well mixed, light, and fluffy.
2. Mix the egg, salt, and molasses together and then mix these into the sugar mixture.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda, ground cloves, cinnamon and ginger.
4. Add dry ingredients to other ingredients and combine well.
5. Chill in the refrigerator a few hours or overnight. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
6. After chilled, shape dough into ping-pong sized balls and place balls on a greased cookie sheet, allowing room for expansion. Flatten balls with a fork (I just used my fingers).
7. Bake in 350-degree oven 12 to 15 min. Do not let get too brown. I baked mine for 12 minutes and they were just perfect.