Hot Ginger Molasses Cookies

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup lard at room temperature
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1 cup chopped candied ginger
• 2 - 3 Tbl Habinero hot sauce
• Turbinado sugar* for tops of cookies

1. 1. Whisk together 2 1/4 C flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and salt in a bowl until combined.
2. 2. Cream lard, butter, and brown sugar. Add egg, chopped ginger, hot sauce and molasses, beating until combined. Mix in 2 1/4 C flour mixture until combined. Keep gradually adding additional 1/4 cup flour until mixture is thick and almost too stiff to work.
3. Preheat oven to 375u0b0F.
4. Roll 1 heaping teaspoon of dough into a 1-inch ball, then dip 1 end of ball in sanding sugar. Make more cookies in same manner, arranging them, sugared side up, 2 inches apart on 2 ungreased baking sheets.
5. Bake cookies, (and if on two rack switching position of sheets halfway through baking), until cookies show deep cracks on top, 9 to 11 minutes total, then cool on sheets 1 minute. Cookies will be very soft when first removed from sheet but will harden. Resist temptation to leave in longer unless you want a hard cookie instead of a chewy one. Transfer to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough on cooled baking sheets.
6. If you can keep them around long enough they can be stored layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 2 weeks.

flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground allspice, ground cloves, salt, lard, butter, brown sugar, egg, blackstrap molasses, candied ginger, tbl, turbinado sugar

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/hot-ginger-molasses-cookies-50017007 (may not work)