Gingerbread Cookies

I know I may be late for the gingerbread train, but I just had to share these. Gingerbread cookies are a once a year specialty for me. I only make them for Christmas. I used to just use the recipe in my mom's Betty Crocker cookbook, but this year I decided to try a recipe from one of the trusty baking blogs on the Interwebz. I'm so glad I did because these were the best gingerbread cookies I've ever had.

[I bake cookies in my PJs]

Gingerbread men cookies are probably my favorite to decorate, mostly because I spend hours amusing myself with all the silly faces and outfits I give my gingerbread men (and sometimes women, zombies, monsters, etc.). Sometimes I actually like when some of them fall apart, because then I can decorate them in a fitting manner, such as this...

I have store-bought decorative icing that I use to decorate these, but you can use anything you want! You can make your own royal icing or regular frosting. Whatever you prefer!

[Chris said this one would be me if I were bald...lol]

Gingerbread Cookies
Source: Crepes of Wrath, italicized notes by me!

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup molasses
1 egg, room temperature
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 tablespoons crystallized ginger, minced (don’t pack the ginger into, a light or “barely there” 1/4 cup is sufficient) [Note: I omitted this and they came out fine!]

Directions:

Beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add in the molasses and beat until well combined. Beat in the egg until combined.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Whisk until combined, then gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, a bit at a time, mixing until well combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you work.

Mince the ginger and fold it into the dough (Again, I omitted this). Carefully wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. The dough is pretty sticky at this point, so I found it easiest to lay out a sheet of plastic wrap and dump the dough directly onto that from the bowl instead of handling it too much with my hands.

After the dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Generously flour your work surface, then take half of your dough and place it down. Generously flour your hands and your rolling pin, then roll the dough out to your desired thickness (mine was about half an inch thick). Carefully move the cookies to a lined and/or greased baking sheet, and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies have risen. Allow to cool completely before moving to another surface to decorate. Makes 30-35 cookies.