As the end of the semester approaches, I occasionally feel the need to peel myself out of my desk chair and stumble downstairs in search of sustenance to keep me studying. All too often, this progresses into chilling in the kitchen with my housemates and whiling away the hours with un-tethered grazing. Cookies with a Kick: Ginger Snaps, pictured here with milk, are a delicious holiday treat.But there comes a time in every food columnist’s life when he has to choose between cramming for his Mechatronics exam and indulging his sweet tooth. At times like this, the solution is something fast, high-yield and delicious.

In other words, cookies.

One of my favorites is a recipe that I first encountered when I was moseying (that’s the co-op equivalent of rush) at my cooperative house freshman year. The then-house manager, Jen, was locally famous for her lovely, spicy ginger cookies. Known as ginger chews, they were a popular house dessert for when a cook group had extra time to burn or somebody wanted to procrastinate. The cookies can be ready in as little as a half an hour from start to finish for a highly-motivated baking team.

The cookies themselves are medium-dense and fragrant with brown sugar and spices. The flavor is reminiscent of gingerbread, with a bit less molasses and more cinnamon, while slight perturbations of the cook time yield cookies that range from soft and cakelike to chewy to ginger snap crisp.

And are they good? “These complete me. They fill in the cookie-shaped hole in my soul,” said cookie fanatic Kathleen J. at the time of a recent baking. Others in the room were too busy munching to say anything except for affirmative grunts and nods.

A major attraction of these cookies is that they are wonderful when made vegan and different but equally mind-blowing when dairy products are used instead. I have included instructions on how to make both versions. These are great any time of the year, but would make a classy addition to any holiday party.

Ginger Chews Recipe

2-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature *

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg *

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup molasses

~1/4 cup granulated sugar for rolling

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Set aside. Mix together the butter and brown sugar, then beat in the egg, vanilla and molasses. Stir in the dry ingredients until just mixed. The dough should hold its shape and be not too sticky.

Roll the dough into one-inch balls, roll the balls in sugar, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes for chewy cookies. Serve warm with a glass of cold milk. Yields 2 to 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

*For vegan cookies, substitute vegetable oil or shortening for the butter. Instead of the egg, either use commercial egg replacer or mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 tablespoon soy milk and 2 tablespoons cold water in a separate bowl. If you are using oil, you may need to add a little flour to get the dough to the proper consistency. They will need to bake about 20 minutes for chewy cookies. Enjoy with soy milk!