Gingerbread men are, to me, the classic Christmas Cookie. I like them very dark and spicy with blackstrap molasses. There are a lot of Gingerbread imitators out there. Cookies that are basically sugar cookies with some brown sugar and cinnamon and a touch of ginger added in. That is NOT gingerbread. Admittedly, some people like that and like to pretend that that is gingerbread and if you are one of those people, you'll probably not want to make these cookies. If, however, you want your house to be filled with the aroma of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, these are for you. They are great on a cold night with a warm mug of tea or hot chocolate. For whatever reason, they come out of the oven soft, get crunchy, then, left a day in a cookie tin, turn soft and chewy again. I ice them with my basic powdered sugar-milk-corn syrup-vanilla icing and stick on some candies for good measure.
Gingerbread Men
3 cups flour
3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) margarine, slightly soft, cut into 12 pieces
3/4 cup blackstrap molasses
2 tbsp ~milk
Combine the dry ingredients. Add the margarine and mix/process until it resembles a fine meal (like a pie crust looks before you add the water). Gradually add in the molasses and milk, and mix until thoroughly combined. Split the dough into two pieces and refrigerate 2 hrs or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out to 1/4" thickness and cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters. Bake for 8-11 minutes until set in center and cookie barely retains imprint with gently touched with fingertip. Let them cool on the cookies sheets for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack.
Allow the cookies to cool completely before you ice them.
1 comment:
I, too, love gingerbread; and I really like Ginger *bread*, in addition to Ginger cookies. Whole Foods makes a lovely gingerbread; but I'm not sure if it's vegan or not...
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