Soft Molasses Cookies

I found the recipe for these incredible cookies in The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. The cookies turn out nice and soft, with some intense spice flavors. If I make these again, I would leave out a 1/4 tsp. of the ginger and a 1/2 tsp. of the cloves, just to see if they make an even better cookie. I ended up making my cookies a little bigger than the recipe called for, so I baked them for about 15 minutes and i rolled my dough in raw sugar as opposed to granulated.

Soft Molasses Cookies

8 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsulfered molasses
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Granulated sugar to coat cookies

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, shortening and sugar. Beat in molasses and eggs.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and spices. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet and blend until smooth. Refrigerate for 1 hour to stiffen the dough.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Roll the dough into balls about the size of a golf ball, about 2 Tbsp. of dough or 1 ounce. Roll each ball in the sugar to coat. Place cookies 2 inches apart on lightly greased or parchment lined cookies sheets.
Bake for 13 minutes. They will have flattened, but won't brown significantly. They should be soft on top and barely colored.
Cool completely on a wire rack.