martha and kelly's chewy gingerbread cookies

i made these cookies today, from marthastewart.com. they definitely don't roll well (i tried that a few years ago), but make excellent ball(?) cookies. i made a few changes, because generally i don't like to copy other people's recipes. i like to make a recipe my own:

-i added one egg, because i thought it needed an egg
-used light brown sugar, because we didn't have any dark,
-omitted the cocoa because we didn't have any of that either (living in someone else's house is hard!).
-omitted the fresh ginger (see above) and added an extra 1/2 tbsp of ground
-added another tbsp of flour
-added 1/8 tsp each of allspice and ground black pepper

ETA: these were phenomenally good. and the most beautiful cookies i've ever made! since i made so many changes to the original recipe, i'm changing the title. i hope martha doesn't mind. i think it could stand another egg and i might try that when i make another batch tomorrow. but these are gorgeous, super spicy, almost perfect gingerbread cookies.

best compliment ever.

"Your brownies are a symphonic extravaganza for the taste buds. They are like the clarion call of trumpets that herald the approach of kings. Nothing in the world is as delectable as your sweets!"

thanks, Mark Lear!