Di, growing up outside of Philly their was a company that made the best gingersnaps called Ivan's. They were hard and had a real bite to them. The following recipe is the best I've ever tasted and the closest to my childhood memory: Extra Spicy Gingersnap Cookies 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger, or more to taste 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for rolling 1 cup light brown sugar, packed 1/3 cup molasses (not blackstrap) 1/4 cup egg whites (from about 2 eggs) . Combine the flour, baking soda, and spices in a mixing bowl and set aside. Cream the butter until smooth and fluffy in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer). Add the sugars and mix. Add the molasses and mix. Add the egg whites in 2 batches, mixing to combine after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three batches, mixing to combine after each addition. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread a few tablespoons of granulated sugar on a small plate. Roll the dough into 3/4-inch balls, then roll each ball in the sugar until lightly coated. Transfer to parchment lined cookie sheets, leaving 1-inch of space between the cookies. Bake until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on wire racks and store in an airtight container. Enjoy, Gina

This is an Alton Brown recipe that I've been using for several years. Note that except for the teaspoon/tablespoon measurements everything else is a weighed measurement. They come out perfect every time...love them!! Ginger Snaps Ingredients 9 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 tablespoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 1/2 teaspoon ground clove 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 7 ounces dark brown sugar 5 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature 3 ounces molasses, by weight 1 large egg, room temperature 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger 4 ounces finely chopped candied ginger Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cardamom, clove and salt. Place the brown sugar and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and fresh ginger and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add the crystallized ginger and using a rubber spatula, stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined. With a 2-teaspoon sized scoop, drop the dough onto a parchment lined half sheet pan approximately 2-inches apart. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes for slightly chewy cookies or 15 minutes for more crisp cookies. Rotate the pan halfway through cooking. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to stay on the sheet pan for 30 seconds before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with all of the dough. Store in an airtight container for up 10 days. If desired, you may scoop and freeze the cookie dough on a sheet pan and once frozen, place in a resealable bag to store. Bake directly from the freezer as above.

It's so funny that you mention Ginger cookies because I was just thinking of making them today. I love this recipe especially for this time of year, not exactly "snaps" but a very good ginger cookie. You should be able to get Hershey's Hugs at the store this time of year. White Chocolate topped Gingerbread Cookies 3 cups flour 2 tsp Ginger, Ground 1 tsp Cinnamon, Ground 1 tsp baking soda ü tsp Nutmeg, Ground ü tsp salt þ cup (1 and ý sticks) unsalted butter at room temp þ cup firmly packed brown sugar ý cup molasses 1 egg 1 tsp Vanilla Extract ü cup granulated sugar in small bowl to roll cookie ball in before baking HERSHEY'S HUGS (be sure to have these unwrapped and ready to press in baked cookies when they come out of oven). Even though I only wanted the white chocolate ones I had to buy a bag with both all chocolate and the swirled ones since I think that is just how they come. Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in another large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla, beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. ROLL IN GRANULATED SUGAR then place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. (I use Silpats). Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Pull them out of the oven even if you don't think they are done after 10 minutes max unless your oven is very slow. Immediately press the Hershey's Hugs into the centers of each cookie. You could wait a couple of minutes but while they are still very warm so they will sink in and melt just a bit and will stick into the center but not so much that the chocolate melts and collapses the Hug. Remove to wire racks, cool completely. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days. *Adapted from McCormick and Company Inc. and Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. I was very happy with the way this recipe turned out and took this picture of them last time I made them. Hope you like them as much as we did! I have shared this recipe once before on GW and mentioned that it's very important to remember to roll the dough balls in sugar before putting them on the baking sheet because for some reason I can't remember to do this and as you can see in the picture I forgot this step in one of the batches.

Love 'em. When I was little, a bunch of decades ago, my mother always had a little bag of them in her purse for when I was restless or she felt I needed a pick-up. I do make really good ones, although I call them 'ginger bends' as they're a little softer and don't snap. I also put diced crystalized ginger in them and that makes them so much better.