Spicy Ginger Cookies

These ginger cookies are sooooooo good. They have a strong gingery bite to them due to the addition of crystallized ginger. They're delicious, especially because they are nice and chewy...

3/4 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar (+ a bit more for chopping ginger)
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
A handful of crystallized ginger pieces - finely chopped

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Chop ginger pieces. You can do this by hand, but it is much easier to use your food processor, chopper, etc. Just be sure to add a little sugar as you go. The insides of the ginger is very sticky - adding the sugar helps the pieces not stick together in a big gloppy mess. Set these aside.

Mix softened butter, sugar, molasses and egg. Beat well.

Stir dry ingredients together into a bowl. Mix well and then slowly add to the wet mixture. Last, but not least, add the ginger pieces. I must admit that I never do this. I throw the spices into the wet mixture and then add in the flour and they always turn out just fine.

Chill the dough for about an hour to make it easier to work with. (Trust me - otherwise it is way too soft.) Scoop out one inch balls and then roll  them in sugar - turbinado sugar is wonderful, but white sugar works fine, too. Place on cookie sheet about two inches apart and bake about 10 minutes if you like a chewy cookie, but a couple of minutes longer if you prefer a bit of crunch. Make sure you try one while it's still warm!