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Gingerbread Cookies

The History of Gingerbread and a Recipe for Gingerbread Cookies with link to Royal Icing tutorial.

Prep Time
2 hrs
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
3 hrs
Servings: 48 servings
Calories: 98 kcal
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: British

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 4 1/2 cups flour, plus more for rolling surface
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • Royal Icing
  • sprinkles, cinnamon candies, or any other decorations of your choice (

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. In a medium saucepan, heat the molasses to the simmering point. 
  2. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until it melts.
  3. Stir in the brown sugar. Allow to cool.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon.
  5. Add the cooled molasses and the egg to the flour mixture and mix very well until a dough forms. You may need to use your hands to really incorporate the wet mixture into the dry mixture.
  6. Wrap dough in wax or parchment paper and chill for 1-2 hours, or until firm enough to roll.
  7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Transfer chilled dough to a lightly floured rolling surface and roll out the dough to one-quarter inch thickness. I like to roll out a quarter of the dough at a time rather than trying to roll all of it out at once.
  8. Cut cookies with your choice of cookie cutter. I chose a traditional gingerbread man, but you can get creative with any kind of cookie cutter you’d like.
  9. Transfer cut dough to a baking sheet that has been lightly greased with nonstick cooking spray or lined with a silicone baking sheet.Bake for 12-15 minutes. The cookies will puff up, but won’t spread much. Add dough scraps to the next batch of dough and continue rolling out, cutting and baking cookies till all the dough is gone.
  10. Cool cookies completely on a rack before decorating with royal icing and decorative sprinkles and candies. For Royal Icing recipe click here, for Royal Icing Decorating Tutorial click here.
  11. Let your cookies dry overnight so the royal icing can set. Store cookies in an airtight container.

Notes

  • You will also need: medium saucepan, large mixing bowl, sifter, wax or parchment paper, rolling pin, cookie cutter(s) of your choice, baking sheet, nonstick cooking spray or silicone baking sheet
  • Adapted from The New York Times Heritage Cookbook by Jean Hewitt

Nutrition Information

Calories 98kcal (5%) Carbohydrates 16g (5%) Protein 1g (2%) Fat 3g (5%) Saturated Fat 1g (5%) Cholesterol 11mg (4%) Sodium 91mg (4%) Potassium 108mg (3%) Sugar 7g (14%) Vitamin A 95IU (2%) Calcium 22mg (2%) Iron 0.9mg (5%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 48servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 98

% Daily Value*

Calories 98kcal 5%
Carbohydrates 16g 5%
Protein 1g 2%
Fat 3g 5%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Cholesterol 11mg 4%
Sodium 91mg 4%
Potassium 108mg 2%
Sugar 7g 14%
Vitamin A 95IU 2%
Calcium 22mg 2%
Iron 0.9mg 5%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.