Gingerbread Cookies

These little gingerbread men were made in a tipsy frenzy; for my little nieces and nephew, Helena, Steven and Lilly.  Before Christmas, I gathered ingredients for these guys in a plastic bag and headed out with my friend Stephanie for a day of shopping, followed by a night cooking and baking.

Unfortunately, These guys became stale before I finished my Christmas shopping for the kids. I didn’t freeze them because I forgot.  I made them other Christmas cookies to enjoy in January! I am such a bad aunt!

That night, we made mac and cheese for ourselves and Don. This recipe is becoming a go-to-quick-fix for dinner. Actually, I think I’ll be making it again this week with some broccoli in the mix of the cheesy goodness that is macaroni and cheese. After we got the mac and cheese together, we waited to put it in the oven while we worked on these cookies. We made gingerbread snowflakes, bells, candy canes and the classic gingerbread man.

While mixing the cookie dough, I remembered my hatred for cookie cut outs. Is that horrible? Also, piping really isn’t my thing. I can pipe a cupcake and ice a cake but I don’t like doing it for cookies. You would think that because I have an artistic background that I would be all for it, but I’ve never mastered it. Mainly because it takes a lot of patience and practice and I am just not patient with anything! So you will notice that these cookies don’t have cute buttons on them or faces. They are blank gingerbread men, I sort of feel bad for them now. Poor, faceless gingerbread cookies!

Gingerbread Cookies

makes approximately 16 large cookies

ingredients:

• 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon finely ground pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup unsulfured molasses

directions:

1. Whisk the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda) and set aside.
2. Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and mix together on medium speed until fluffy. (Use an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment or a hand mixer.)
3. Add spices and salt then eggs and molasses.
4. Switching to a lower setting and slowly mix in the flour until combined.
5. Divide dough in half and refrigerate for at least an hour before rolling out.
6. Preheat oven to 350 and roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick (I usually do this between two sheets of wax paper. )
7. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until  lightly brown around the edges.

Source: from Martha Stewart