Cleo Coyle's Gingerbread Snowballs

The best holiday gift of all doesn’t come with a bow. It’s the gift of love. And these beautiful little sugar-dusted gingerbread cookies, baked with love, are the perfect Christmas treat for holiday dessert trays—or to leave for Santa with a thermos of hot coffee on a chilly winter night. (You know he’s going to need that caffeine for his magical ride!)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my readers and everyone at Fresh Fiction!

To see this recipe with beautiful step-by-step photos and free recipe PDF, drop by my recipe blog here. You’ll find more recipes and information about my New York Times bestselling series of Coffeehouse Mysteries and my brand new release from Penguin ONCE UPON A GRIND!

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 generous pinch ground black pepper

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

2 Tablespoons molasses (not blackstrap) or honey

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup powdered sugar (for finishing)

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Mix the dough: Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and ground spices. Set aside. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the softened butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in egg, molasses (or honey), and vanilla. Now gradually add in the dry flour mixture, blending until the dough comes together.

Chill: Pat the dough into a mound and chill for 30 minutes. (The dough is sticky, and the chilling will make it easier to work with in the next step.) At this point in the recipe, you can store the dough for up to 3 days in the refrigerator, but be sure to wrap it tightly in plastic to keep it moist.

Bake the cookies: When ready to bake, break off small pieces of dough and roll into small balls (3/4 inches in diameter). Bake about 13 minutes in your preheated 325° Fahrenheit oven. Do not burn bottoms. Insides of cookies will finish baking as cookies cool.

Snow dusting: Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet. If you handle them while they're hot, they will lose their shape. Once they've cooled off and hardened a bit, roll them in the powdered sugar, and eat with joy to the world!