I love baking more than I probably should, but I desperately hate buying special ingredients that I will only use rarely. This stems partly from the fact that I have a very tiny kitchen. Also because I try to change recipes and bake only with items I have on hand at all times, making it something I can do spontaneously.

In case you’re wondering, my main tenets of baking are:

• Don’t be afraid to substitute ingredients.
• Unless you’re making something persnickety–like a meringue, bread, or something else–there is no reason you can’t throw all the ingredients in all at once.
• Exact measurements are not required.

So I guess you could say that these are somewhat lazy recipes. But they’re good lazy recipes.

(I’m sure some of you are wondering why I’m posting a recipe – this is a knitting blog, after all. Well, I’m a baker. I love to bake–and cook. I also love to change and share recipes, which brings us to our current state.)

I really like ginger snaps, but rarely bake them because recipes almost always call for molasses. Instead of giving in, I decided to get messy in the kitchen and try to make it work. You’ll also notice there is no ginger (ground or fresh) in this recipe. That’s because I hate ginger: it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. If you like ginger and want to use it, I’d recommend either cutting out the nutmeg and allspice, or using less of them.

The verdict: it’s not a traditional ginger snap, but damn it is good. If you like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, or pumpkin pie spice, you will adore these cookies as much as me. I’ve taken to calling these Spice Cookies because, quite honestly, that’s what they are. They are best the same day, they don’t really stay soft for very long.

Spice Cookies

Modified from 17 & Baking

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar, plus enough water to liquefy
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• Sugar (for rolling, raw is best–totally optional)

Directions

I use a Kitchen Aid mixer, so after I prepped the fake molasses, I threw everything in all at once. If you do the same, this recipe will work out just fine. If you aren’t using a Kitchen Aid mixer, it’s best to mix things together as directed below.

1. Prep your fake molasses: place 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar into a microwave safe mug with enough water to liquefy. Stir and microwave for ~10 seconds (or until it’s smooth). Place in freezer to cool.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl until combined: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, salt.
3. In a separate, smaller bowl: combine 1/4 cup of your fake molasses, 1 cup packed light brown sugar, canola oil, and egg. Mix until combined, it may get kind of fluffy. That’s ok.
4. Pour the mixture from the smaller bowl in with the dry ingredients and mix until combined. It’ll be kind of crumbly – that’s ok.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and let cool in the fridge. Cool for at least 20 minutes, but an hour is better.
6. Preheat oven to 375° F.
7. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (if you have it–if not, don’t freak out). Scoop out teaspoon-sized gobs of dough and roll them into wee balls and place on cookie sheet 2″ apart. If you have parchment paper, roll your little cookies-to-be in the raw sugar and place on cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 7 minutes for super soft cookies, 8 for soft cookies, and 10 for crispy cookies.