I am such a sucker for homemade cookies. Chocolate chip are still my all-time favorite, but in the winter, these ginger spice cookies are a very close second. Chewy, spicy, with a hint of salt and a crunch of raw sugar, these are the ultimate afternoon treat. I made them last week and they didn't last 24 hours. (Fortunately I had lots of friends to help me eat them!!)

If you have kids, making these cookies is the perfect snow-day activity, as they involve rolling dough into little balls and dunking them in sugar, then pressing them into cookie shapes on the baking sheet. While they're baking, make yourself a cup of tea and enjoy the heavenly smells wafting from the oven.

Ginger-Cookies

A word of warning: you'll want to eat these cookies the second they're done, but wait. Let them cool for 10-15 minutes and they'll be the exact perfect consistency: warm, chewy, with just a tiny bit of crunch. Happy baking!

(Photos by Signe Birck; props by ABC Home.)

[recipe:best-ginger-spice-cookies-recipe]