Cream shortening, butter and sugars. Whisk in the syrup and eggs. Sift together the dry ingredients (except sugar and cinnamon for rolling) and add to the egg mixture. Chill batter well. Roll into balls approximately 1" in diameter. Roll balls in mixture of sugar and cinnamon and place 2" apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350F for 15-17 minutes. Remove from oven, let rest for 1 minutes, then remove to rack.

Makes 6-7 dozen (For smaller batch, recipe may be halved, or half of dough may be wrapped and frozen for later use.)

Plm Notes: Due to my poor planning, I was out of two rather vital ingredients: Ginger and cloves! In desperation, I hauled out my handy-dandy spice grinder and ground whole cloves into the powdered version. I also had on hand a package of diced, crystallized ginger which I then ground, as well. I was concerned these two spices were going to be so overpowering the cookies would be inedible. Instead, these turned into the absolute best gingersnap cookies I've ever tasted!

or when.....