This is my first attempt at making gingerbread cookies. I used the recipe I found on Food Network but I didn’t have the blackstrap molasses. Probably this is the reason why my dough was a little dry and crumbly and kind of hard to work with. However, it was worth the effort as the cookies turned out to be delicious. Plus the really fun part was turning the gingerbread cookies into Santa cookies using Royal Icing :).
Time: 53 min, Prep: 45 min. Cook: 8 min. per batch
Servings: ~12-24 cookies, depending on the size of the cookie cutters you use
Ingredients:
- 110g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 115 g (1/2 cup) sugar
- 150 g (1/2 cup) blackstrap molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 330 g (3 cups) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- Royal Icing for decorating the cookies – see my post on How to Make Royal Icing (note that you need just half of the quantity)
You also need cookie cutters in whatever shape you prefer. I used a gingerbread man and a star.
Directions:
Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
Add the grated ginger.
In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients – flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and ground cloves. Then combine the dry ingredients with the butter mixture. I used a stand mixer with a dough hook to combine all the ingredients.
You still need to knead the dough with your hands tough, until all ingredients are incorporated. Cut the dough in half, wrap it in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
On a lightly floured surface roll the dough until it’s about ¾ cm thick. Using the cookie cutters cut out the dough and place the cookies in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 8 minutes until the edges are firm to touch. Allow to cool completely.
Decorate the cookies as desired with Royal Icing and let sit until the icing is completely set (~ 1 hour).
