By PARKER KOONS – Baked goods are a common scent that grace noses around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cookies come in all forms during the holiday months with many adopting classic cookie recipes like spice, chocolate chip, and sugar cookies to grace their holiday offerings.

It tends to be around this season that people bake more cookies to give to family as well as for bake sales and fundraisers.  Senior Lexi Michelle commented, “People tend to bake more for their families around the holidays.”

Chocolate chip cookies are very often seen and eaten around the holidays. Another common cookie around this time of year is sugar cookies, which tend to appear closer to Christmas time. Even now there have been bake sales in the school. An example of this is the bake sale which raised money to support the victims from the attack in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

“I bake with my aunt and my grandma all the time around this time of year,” said senior Sequoiah Rhoades.”

One recipe people love to make during this season is gingersnap snap strips, which is a simple recipe anyone could make: The ingredients list is ¾ cup shortening, 1 cup white sugar, 1 egg, ¼ cup molasses, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, and ½ teaspoon ground cloves. Making this recipe can be very entertaining although messy, especially with the participation of little kids.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or ungreased cookie sheets. In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; stir into the batter until it forms a dough.

The dough may seem a bit crumbly, but just continue mixing and it will come together. Remove the dough from the bowl, and knead for a few turns. Pat out into a square, and divide into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a 12-inch long log. Place 3 logs onto each cookie sheet. Wet the tops of the logs with a little bit of water using your fingertips, then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in a preheated oven. Allow the cookies to cool for a couple of minutes, then slice the bars diagonally into 1-inch pieces using a knife or pizza cutter. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.  When completely cool, store in an airtight container at room temperature, and enjoy.

Gingersnap strips are a lovely thing to make and there should be plenty to go around to family and friends. Cookies in general are a lovely gift for people.

“I love my grandma’s chocolate chip cookies!” stated senior Brandon Gunsallus.

[Photo by Parker Koons]

Photo Caption: “Sophomore Maddie Thompson enjoys a cookie during a meeting of Library Club.”