Ginger Spice White Chocolate Cookies

For many years, we baked molasses cookies for my Aunt Ruthie for Christmas. She always wanted them to be gigantic, and very dark and full of molasses flavor. I have to admit, I don't care for the flavor of molasses, and after making these for many years, I stopped when she passed away.

My dad asked for some gingersnaps a few years ago, and I wanted to accomodate that request, but also make something I would enjoy eating. So, these are a nice compromise. They are soft, and spicy, and the white chocolate breaks up some of the intensity of the molasses. The secret ingredient is just a hint of chocolate. You could also make them without the white chocolate chips, and still have a ginger spice cookie that isn't quite so intense.

Ginger Spice White Chocolate Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup unsulfered molasses
2 teaspoons soda
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 tablespoon ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups white chocolate chips
1/2 cup sugar

Cream together butter and brown sugar. Add molasses and mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together. In a small cup, mix together the soda with three teaspoons of boiling water. Beat half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Add the soda mixture, then the remainder of the dry ingredients. Stir in the white chocolate chips. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll them in the sugar. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, until you see cracks form on the surface of the cookies. Cool on a rack.