crackly ( and dairy-free) spice cookies

What an odd couple of days. Three days ago it was 2 degrees, and it felt as though it never warmed up that day. The next day, it was back to 20 degrees, and the day after that it snowed and rained. Yesterday I ended up being stranded at home, because the dirt roads were so slick with ice I couldn't drive back down the hill, after buying the Sunday paper in town. The town trucks said I could either be stranded in town, or at home, so when I chose home, they led a sanding procession to my house, which they said would last 25 minutes before icing up again. So did I bake and cook and wrap, listening to Christmas music and jingling a bell at Miss Domino? I did not. I vegged out on the sofa, reading the Sunday paper, then football ( which I still don't understand), and then a series of sappy holiday movies.

Today I finally whipped out that recipe I've been wanting to make , from Suzanne Lombardi, founder of the Dancing Deer Baking Company in Boston. This very New Englandy spice cookie is a lot like a gingersnap, but with more cloves and nutmeg, and it is delicious. Paired with ginger ice cream or sandwiched with cream cheese frosting comes to mind, but sprinkled with a little sparkling sugar and served with tea works for me just fine. It's also a very sturdy cookie, so it would be fine for mailing or packaging in those cello bags for giving. Enjoy! ~

This makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

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Preheat oven to 350F.

Fit two baking sheets with foil or parchment.

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2 1/4 cups King Arthur all purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

pinch of kosher salt

2 t. cinnamon

2 t. ground cloves

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

3/4 t. ground ginger

1 cup sugar plus more for sprinkling.

3/4 cup canola oil

1/3 cup molasses

1 large egg

Mix the flour, spices, and salt and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.

In mixer bowl, combine the sugar, canola oil, and molasses and mix for 5 minutes.

Add the egg and mix again.

On low speed, add the flour mixture in four batches to the flour/spice mixture. It should come together in a ball - if it's dry, add water, a few tablespoons at a time, JUST until it forms a ball.

Using a small ( I used a one and a half inch) ice cream scoop, scoop dough onto baking sheets, about 12 to a baking sheet. Press gently with two fingers on each ball to flatten it slightly. Sprinkle with regular sugar or sparkling sugar., or diced sugared ginger ( see above).

Bake one sheet at a time in upper third of oven for 11 minutes, let cool, then remove with a spatula to a cooling rack. Bake the second sheet.

If you are packaging these, let cool completely for an hour, then package as you wish.

Enjoy!