The smoked brown sugar in this recipe may be substituted with regular light brown sugar, but I highly recommend seeking out the specialty ingredient that makes these cookies blue ribbon-worthy!
For the cookie dough: Beat together the shortening, butter, sugars, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat in the egg and molasses.
Add the flour and spices. Mix on medium-low speed until a thick dough is formed.
Sugar coating: combine the sugars and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Portion the dough into 1 1/2 tablespoons for each cookie. ( I used a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop.) Roll each portion into a ball and then roll the dough balls in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets. Space them at least 1 1/2-inches apart because the cookies will spread.
Bake the cookies for 13 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the pan until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely. Store in a cookie tin or an airtight container.
Keyword ground ginger, molasses, smoked brown sugar