This classic Gingersnap recipe is straight from my husband's great-grandmother Prudy, who was from Sweden. It is a recipe with butter and lots of spice.
Beat the butter in a large bowl or stand mixer until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
Add sugar and beat thoroughly.
Add the molasses and egg and beat well, scraping sides.
Add the flour but don't mix it in.
Form a well in the center of the flour and add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Use a teaspoon to stir it into the flour. (You can totally do the dry ingredients in a separate bowl if you want. I'm just lazy.)
Beat until the dough is just coming together. Make sure the flour is incorporated and then stop.
Chill the dough for about an hour, or several days if you like.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.
Roll into balls. I made mine 1 and 1/2 inches** and got 28 cookies.
Place 1/2 cup raw sugar (white sugar is fine) in a shallow bowl. Roll the cookies in the sugar.
Line the cookies up on the prepared sheets, at least a couple inches apart.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. If you want them super snappy, leave them in a couple minutes longer.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle with regular white sugar.
Eat with tons of milk!
Notes
*You can use half butter and half butter-flavored shortening, which would be 6 tablespoons of each. **Kris says that Prudy's cookies were about 2 and 1/2 inches when baked, so she probably rolled them into 1-inch balls. And her recipe says bake 10-12 minutes, so they were probably even crispier than mine turned out.