Carolyn’s Favorite Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ C shortening I use butter
- ½ C brown sugar packed
- 3 ¼ C all-purpose flour
- 1 t salt
- 1 t baking soda
- ½ t cinnamon
- ½ t ginger
- 1/8 t ground cloves
- ¾ C molasses
- ¼ C water
Stir together
- 1 C sifted powdered sugar
- 1 t light corn syrup
- 2 ½ t warm water and
- ¼ t vanilla
Instructions
- Cream shortening and sugar in large bowl. Mix flour with salt, soda and spices in large Pyrex.
- Blend into creamed mixture alternately with molasses and water.
- Chill 1 hour.
- Roll half the dough at a time, ¼ “ thick.
- Cut with floured cookie cutters. Lift onto lightly greased baking sheets.
- Refrigerate scraps of dough while rolling second portion. Combine all scraps and reroll to cut as many as you can. 🙂
- Bake 350° oven 12 minutes, or until cookies spring back when touched lightly in the center. Do not brown. Cool, remove to wire racks. When cold, decorate.
Notes
December 2011
Gingerbread Men
Servings: 20
Ingredients
- ½ cup shortening
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 3 ¼ cup sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- ¾ cup molasses
- ¼ cup water
- Frosting
- Currants
Frosting
- 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
- 1 tsp light corn syrup
- 2½ tsp warm water
- ¼ tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Cream shortening and sugar.
- Re-sift flour with salt, soda, and spices.
- Blend into creamed mixture alternately with molasses and water.
- Chill 1 hour.
- Roll half the dough at a time, ¼ inch thick.
- Cut with floured gingerbread man cutter.
- Lift onto lightly greased baking sheets.
- Refrigerate scraps of dough while rolling second portion.
- Bake at 350° F for 11—13 minutes, or until cookies spring back when touched lightly in center. Do not brown.
- Cool. Remove to wire racks.
- When cold, decorate with frosting and currants.
Notes
October 2014
Spicy Gingerbread Twigs
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1/3 cup mild or medium molasses not blackstrap
- 1/4 cup brewed coffee cooled
- 1/3 cup coarse clear or green sugar or turbinado sugar
- White or clear edible decorating glitter optional
Instructions
- Position a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350 degrees Set aside two large baking sheets and four 15-inch-long pieces of parchment.
- In a large bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, cloves, allspice, and cayenne pepper, if using, until well blended. Thoroughly mash out sugar lumps with the back of the spoon.
- In a small bowl whisk together butter, molasses, and coffee until very well blended. Immediately, add butter mixture to flour mixture, stirring vigorously, until evenly incorporated.
- Turn dough onto floured surface. Knead with your hands for 30 seconds to make it smoother and more malleable. If dough is too dry or crumbly to roll out, work in a few drops of water until it holds together; if too wet, thoroughly knead in 1 to 2 tablespoons more flour.
- Divide dough in half. Roll each portion between two pieces of parchment into a 6×12- inch rectangle. If necessary, cut and patch to make the sides roughly even. (Don’t worry about making it perfect.) Peel off top pieces of parchment. Evenly sprinkle each rectangle with about 3 tablespoons coarse sugar and about 1 tablespoon edible glitter, if desired. Lay parchment over dough; gently pressing sugar into dough. Remove top pieces of parchment.
- Using a pizza cutter or a large knife, cut each rectangle into 1/4- to 1/3×6-inch strips. It’s OK to leave edges uneven. Slide rectangle and parchment onto baking sheets.
- Working with one rectangle at a time, bake for 13 to 16 minutes or until just firm when pressed in the center and edges are browned. Immediately slide rectangle and parchment onto a cutting board. Quickly (before rectangle cools and becomes brittlretrace the cuts between strips and cut off uneven edges. (If necessary, return rectangle to the oven; warm until soft enough to work with.) Discard the uneven, overbaked end sections.
- Reduce oven to 200 degrees When rectangle is cool enough to handle, use your hands to gently separate strips. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. If desired, sprinkle with additional edible glitter. Bake for 10 minutes. Slide strips and parchment onto a wire rack; cool completely.
Gingerbread House Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsps ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
Mix together
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Lightly spray the mold with nonstick cooking spray; blot out any excess oil using paper towel.
- Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cloves; mix well.
- In large mixing bowl, beat shortening and sugar until blended. Add molasses and egg; beat until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture; mix well.
- Shape dough into a ball; divide dough into 2 portions. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap; chill 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
- Press 1 portion of dough firmly into prepared mold, filling all sections. Holding serrated knife parallel to the surface of the mold cut excess dough from mold.
- Bake 17-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
- Remove to cooling rack. Cool in mold 5 minutes. Carefully remove cookie pieces from mold; cool completely. Cool mold completely before filling with remaining dough.
- Repeat procedure with remaining dough.
- Glue pieces together with Royal Icing.
Notes
Note: It is only necessary to fill the chimney section of the house once. If you don’t have a mold, roll out dough thinly and cut the following shapes:
(2) rectangles 4 1/2” wide by 3 1/2” — House sides
(2) rectangles 5 1/4” by 3 1/2” —Roof
(2) pentagons, Base measures 4 ¼ “ wide by 3 1/2” high plus a triangle on the top that peaks at 5 3/4” — House sides
(1) rectangle about 1 1/4” x 7” — Tall Chimney.
Windmill Cookies #1
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1/2 – cup hot water
- 4 cup flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 dash cloves
- 1/2 tsp mace
- 3/4 cup almonds , blanched, slivered
Instructions
- Mix together butter, brown sugar and baking soda dissolved in water.
- In separate bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and mace.
- Combine with butter mixture.
- Add almonds.
- Roll dough into 2 loaves, each 3 – 1/2 x 10″.
- Chill overnight in refrigerator.
- Slice into one-fourth inch slices.
- Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until slightly browned.
Windmill Cookies #2
Servings: 48
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
- pinch ground cloves
- 1 cup silvered almonds (4 oz)
Instructions
- Stir together baking soda and water until baking soda is dissolved.
- Beat together butter, brown sugar, and baking soda mixture with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.
- Whisk together flour, salt, and spices, then mix into butter mixture until combined well.
- Stir in almonds.
- Form dough into 3 (10- by 3-inch) logs and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
- Freeze logs until firm, about 4 hours, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Keeping remaining logs frozen, cut 1 log crosswise into slices slightly less than 1/4 inch thick and arrange slices 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake in middle of oven until set, 12 to 14 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool.
- Slice and bake remaining dough in same manner.