Gingerbread Cookies

​Our family continued the Christmas Gingerbread House tradition in grand style last night.

​The gingerbread houses turned out great but they made me hungry for gingerbread cookies.  (Ones that are a little less hard than the walls of the house.)

So I decided to whip up a batch of gingerbread snowflakes to munch on while I watched the decorating.  This recipe came from annieseats.com.  Thanks Annie!

Gingerbread Cookies
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1½ tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1 large egg

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices to combine; set aside. 

Cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Mix in the molasses and egg until combined.

Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.

Cover the bowl and chill the dough for at least one hour.  Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to about ¼-inch thickness.  ​Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.  Place the cookie shapes onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes.  Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. 

​Decorate cookies with royal icing and sprinkles for an extra touch of sweetness.

​Oh, and did I mention that these cookies make great decorations for my Gingerbread cupcakes?

Ciao!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe