'Tis the Season!

Yay, Christmas is almost here!  :)

The tree is up, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care and now it's time for cookies!!!  I have always loooooved these gingerbread cookies!  This is the greatest recipe - with a nice spicy flavor.  The dough is nice and sturdy and super easy to work with - they always turn out great.  The recipe is adapted from Good Housekeeping.

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 large egg, beaten
3 cups flour

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2.  In 3-quart saucepan, combine sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper.  Heat over medium heat until boiling, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir in baking soda (the mixture will foam up in the pan - the kids will love this!). 

Stir in butter until melted.  Using a fork, stir in the egg.  Then stir in flour until mixture forms a dough.

3.  Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until well combined.  Divide in half and wrap in plastic wrap.  I usually refrigerate for a bit until cool.  (You can also make the dough a few days ahead and store in fridge or keep several weeks in freezer.)

4.  Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness.  Using floured cookie cutters, cut dough into as many cookies as possible.  Place cookies 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheets.  Continue to reroll trimmings into more cookies.

5.  Bake 12 minutes until edges begin to brown.  Cool completely on wire rack.   These are 3x4 inch gingerbread men and the recipe made about 32 cookies.

Notice the super cute spatula that my sister gave me -
thanks, Liz!

6.  Store in tightly covered container at room temperature for 2 weeks or in freezer for 3 months.

Note:  For crispier cookies, bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Decorate with royal icing (recipe below) and whatever else you like!  

Royal Icing
5 teaspoons meringue powder
1/3 cup water
1 pound confectioner's sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
(Note:  I use meringue powder and water in place of egg whites in this recipe.  You can find meringue powder at Michael's or most craft or cake stores.  If you don't have any, substitute 2-3 large egg whites.)

Whisk together meringue powder and water until dissolved.  Using electric mixer, combine the meringue mixture and sugar.  Stir in the lemon juice gradually until spreadable.  Can be stored 1-2 days in the fridge.