Mix in the egg, mola.s.ses, baking soda, salt, and ground ginger. Stir it until everything is incorporated.

Add the flour in one-cup increments, mixing after each addition. Sc.r.a.pe down the sides of the bowl and give it a final stir.

Chill the dough for at least 1 hour. (Overnight is even better.) When you"re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

Roll the dough into walnut-sized b.a.l.l.s with your impeccably clean hands. Then roll the dough b.a.l.l.s in the bowl of white sugar to coat them. Place them on greased cookie sheets (or cookie sheets you"ve sprayed with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray), 12 dough b.a.l.l.s to a standard-sized sheet. Flatten the dough b.a.l.l.s with the back of a metal spatula.

Bake the cookies at 375 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until the Regency Ginger Crisps are nicely browned.

Remove the cookies from the oven. Cool them on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Hannah"s 1st Note: If you leave these on the cookie sheets for too long, they"ll stick. One way to get around this problem is to line your cookie sheets with parchment paper and spray the paper with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.

Yield: 5 to 6 dozen delightful cookies, depending on cookie size.

Hannah"s 2nd Note: I served these at Mother"s Regency Romance Club. They asked me for something from the Regency Period. Since they had all the ingredients back then, I figured why not?

SHORT STACK COOKIES.

DO NOT preheat oven - dough must chill before baking.

1 and cups melted b.u.t.ter (3 sticks, 12 ounces)

2 cups white (granulated) sugar

2 large eggs, beaten (just whip them with a fork)

cup maple syrup 54

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour (pack the flour down in the cup

when you measure it)

cup white (granulated) sugar for coating the dough b.a.l.l.s

Melt the b.u.t.ter and then mix in the sugar. Set the bowl aside on the counter to cool to room temperature.

Once the mixture is cool, add the beaten eggs. Mix everything thoroughly.

Mix in the maple syrup, baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract.

Add the flour in one-cup increments, mixing after each addition.

Chill the dough for at least 2 hours before baking. (Overnight is fine, too.) When you"re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

Place cup white sugar in a shallow bowl. You"ll use this to coat your dough b.a.l.l.s.

Roll the dough into walnut-sized b.a.l.l.s with your impeccably clean hands.

Roll the dough b.a.l.l.s in the bowl of sugar to coat them and then place them on greased cookie sheets, 12 cookies to a standard-sized sheet. (You can also use Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or line the cookie sheets with parchment paper.) Flatten the dough b.a.l.l.s with the back of a metal spatula.

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until they are nicely browned.

Take the cookies out of the oven. Cool them on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes, and then remove them to a rack to finish cooling. (If you leave them on the cookie sheets for too long, they"ll stick.) Hannah"s Note: Edna Ferguson says these taste exactly like pancakes that are slathered with maple syrup and b.u.t.ter, and she wishes she could get away with serving them instead of real pancakes at the annual faculty breakfast.

SPICY DREAMS.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

Hannah"s 1st Note: This recipe is from Lindy Frank and I"m glad she finally sent it to me. Her cookies disappear faster than a Popsicle on a hot day. Lindy calls these cookies "Ginger Cookies," but since we already serve a cookie by that name down at The Cookie Jar, we"ve renamed these "Spicy Dreams."

Hannah"s 2nd Note: Lindy says to tell you that she makes these cookies festive by using colored sugar for holidays. She uses pink and red sugar for Valentine"s Day, orange sugar for Halloween, green sugar for St. Pat"s Day, red and green for Christmas, etc.

1 cup softened b.u.t.ter (2 sticks, 8 ounces, pound)

1 pound and 6 ounces white (granulated) sugar (2 and cups)

3 eggs

1 cup mola.s.ses

2 Tablespoons vinegar (white will do just fine)

2 Tablespoons baking soda

4 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 pound and 12 ounces all-purpose flour (6 cups pack it

down in the cup when you measure it)

cup white (granulated) sugar, (or cup colored decorator

sugar, or cup white and colored decorator sugar mixed

together), for rolling dough b.a.l.l.s55