Cold, Grey Day = Ginger Creams

What do you do when you're stuck inside due to weather? I always go with cookies and when this last wave of cold weather hit, I decided it was time to pull a childhood favorite, Ginger Creams. I love that this vintage recipe from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book can still be a treat 100 years later. My modified version below uses pumpkin pie spice which contained all of the required spices (and saved me a trip to the market).

Ginger Creams
1/3 c. shortening
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. molasses
1/2 c. water
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Icing
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tbsp. half and half
water to thin as needed

Mix the wet ingredients with the sugar in a mixer or with a hand blender, sift the dry ingredients and add them in. Chill the dough for at least an hour. Scoop into 1Tbs balls on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes and ice when slightly warm.