Cookie-a-Day: Gingerbread people

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Dec 3rd 2007 @ 4:39PM

gingerbread cookies as far as the eye can see

Last Christmas I went a little crazy with gingerbread cookies. I made hundreds of gingerbread men, women, stars, bells and other cut-out shapes. I spend hours rolling, cutting, transferring, baking, cooling and frosting. You don't have to go so crazy with your cookies, although when you try this recipe, you might just be similarly inspired. The great thing about this dough is that you can keep it in the fridge for several days, so you don't have roll and cut it all in a single afternoon. This is also a terrific recipe if you have kids or want to have a cookie party.

For the frosting, I tend to just mix up powdered sugar, a drop of vanilla and some water into a semi-viscous state and dip the tops of the cookies straight into the frosting. They end up looking really pretty and are so delicious! Just remember that if you frost them that way you need to wait until they are totally dry before stacking them or your perfect cookies will adhere together into solid stacks. Which can be a bit disappointing (I speak from experience here).

Gingerbread Cookies
adapted from a recipe on allrecipes.com

1 1/2 cups dark molasses
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup cold water
1/3 cup butter
7 cups all purpose flour (I tend to do half all purpose and half whole wheat pastry flour, just to make them a *tiny* bit healthier)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground ginger (sometimes I use fresh grated ginger, which gives them a nice punch)
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix molasses, sugar, water and butter together (if you have a stand mixer, I highly recommend using it, as this dough gets really stiff). Stiff all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and add it to the wet ingredients in batches. Mix well. When dough is incorporated, form it into a ball or disc, wrap it in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours (although I kept it up to a week with no ill effects). Roll, cut out and bake on a parchment or silpat lined cookie sheet (you can use a single sheet of parchment for multiple batches) at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Frost anyway you like or leave them plain. If you're making gingerbread people and want to give them eyes/noses/buttons, you can decorate the cookies with red hots or other cookie decorating novelties prior to baking.

Filed Under: Spirit of Christmas, Ingredients, Holidays, Methods
Tags: baking, Christmas, Cookie a Day, cookies, gingerbread, holidash, holiday, spices, sugar

Chew on This

Royal Wedding Cake Details Revealed! - YumSugar

Make Your Own Pop Tarts - CHOW
Denny's Introduces a Maple Bacon Sundae - Eater
Whole Foods Opening Bars in Stores - USA Today
Rules Of Bar Etiquette -- For The Bartender - HuffPost Food

Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-12-2007 @10:21PM mom said... please print
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

12-19-2007 @7:22AM rsnalexander said... Has anyone else tried this recipe? I didn't find it too successful myself but I would be interested in anyone elses feedback.
My main problem that I should've checked was that there isn't any taste to the biscuits. The volume of flour and ingredients really needed more spice. All the flavour was lost. It's a shame cos now I've got nearly 1000 biscuits with no flavour.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

12-20-2007 @3:14PM Lugh said... Made these for a party. People were taking them, so all was good, I thought. I tried one and removed them from the buffet. Dry, tasteless/spiceless, like thick cardboard. Would probably work well for gingerbread house building, but not for eating.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

12-20-2007 @3:15PM Marisa McClellan said... Guys, I'm really sorry to hear that this recipe didn't work for you. I've made it several times and always thought the cookies were very tasty.
Reply