Frosted Ginger Cookies

 I know it seems like I make a lot of cookies doesn't it? Well, I do.  But you should know that I end up giving away most of them.  I keep a couple for my kiddo and pass the rest along.  People love me (or hate me).

This particular batch of cookies was chosen by my daughter out of a Taste of Home Cookie book I have.  I was sort of surprised she chose this one since it didn't have any chocolate in it which is usually her thing.  I loved this cookie.  It's not what I would call chewy but definitely soft. More caky then chewy.

I loved the spicy taste that you get from the ginger, cinnamon and cloves.  We made this a little premature of fall but I would love to bring this to a fall event.  The frosting was pretty amazing too.  If you plan to frost all of the cookies I would double the frosting recipe below, otherwise you only get enough for about half of the cookies.

Definitely a keeper in my recipe book.  Enjoy!

Frosted Ginger Cookies
From "Taste of Home Cookies and More" Jan. 2012 page 13 by Jeanne Matteson

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Frosting

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line cookies sheets with parchment paper or another non-stick covering.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the butter and sugars and cream together.  Add the eggs on at at time mixing well after each addition.  Stir in the molasses and vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients and gradually add them to the creamed mixture.

Use a medium cookie scoop or tablespoon to drop the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until cookies spring back when touched.  Do not over bake.

For the frosting: In a large saucepan, bring the brown sugar, milk and butter to a boil.  Cook and stir the mixture for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat (mixture will look a curdled at first).  Cool for 3 minutes.  Add the confectioners sugar, vanilla and salt.  Mix well.  Frost warm cookies .