Gingerbread Cookies
Soft molasses cookies with decorations
Equipment
- plastic wrap
- a rolling Pin
- cookie cutters approximately 3-4 inches tall
- parchment paper or silicon baking mats
- 2-3 cookie sheets
- cooling rack
- piping bag
- small round piping tips
- piping coupler
Ingredients
Cookies
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 2 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsulphured molasses
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Royal Icing
- 6 tablespoons warm water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 ½ tablespoons meringue powder
- 2 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
Instructions
Cookies
- Whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Use a mixer to cream the butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the molasses and eggs.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beating after each addition, until the mixture is mixed and the dough is smooth.
- Shape the dough into a disc, then wrap it in plastic wrap. Place it in the freezer for about 15 minutes to chill it.
- After the dough is chilled, remove it from the freezer and cut the disc into 6 pie-shaped wedge slices. Place one pie-shaped portion onto a floured surface for rolling. Place the remaining dough back in the freezer to keep it chilled.
- Roll to 1/4-inch thick circle. Use the cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
- Place the cutouts (separated) on a cookie sheet prepared with parchment paper or a baking mat. Place them in the refrigerator and let them chill for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the chilled cookies for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the pan for a few minutes. Then move them to a cooling rack.
- Remove another pie-shaped slice from the freezer, then repeat rolling and cutting. If the dough is thoroughly chilled, move it to the refrigerator. Repeat until all cookies are rolled, baked, and cooled.
Royal Icing
- Add water and extracts to a mixing bowl. Whisk in the cream of tartar and meringue powder until smooth.
- Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl. Mix on low, scraping down the bowl sides when needed. Mix for approximately 10 minutes (checking every 2-3 minutes) or until soft peaks form. You can determine soft peaks by removing a beater and holding it upside down to see whether the mixture on the beater folds over or bends to one side. If it bends, the icing is at soft peaks and ready for piping borders.
- Fit the coupler into the piping bag, then cut a hole in the end of the bag so the coupler nose sticks out. Add a round tip and screw the coupler ring on. Add the icing. Cover the icing bowl with a damp paper towel to prevent any leftover icing from drying out.
- Pipe outlines and patterns on the cookies to decorate them. If needed, change tip sizes by unscrewing the coupler ring, removing a tip, and replacing it with another size. However, you might use only one tip size for decorating these cookies.
Notes
Meringue Powder
Meringue powder is made from a base of pasteurized dried egg whites. It also contains a few other ingredients, such as cornstarch and sugar, and is a favorite for decorating cookies. You can buy it online, at craft stores like Michaels, and at some grocery stores.Tips
Use assorted sizes of round tips to outline, make dots, and add other decorations to the cookies. If you use only one tip for all the decorating, you do not need a coupler. The coupler makes it easy to change tips without transferring the icing to a new piping bag to remove the tip.Coupler
Click here for a coupler source.Unsulfured or Unsulphured Molasses
Unsulfured is the American English spelling, and Unsulphured is the British English spelling. They mean the same thing.Yield
The number of cookies this recipe makes depends on the size of the cookie cutters used. It yields approximately 50 when using 2 x 3-inch cutters.Nutrition
Calories: 132kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 1gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 95mgPotassium: 70mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 68IUVitamin C: 0.003mgCalcium: 11mgIron: 1mg
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