My good friend Kathryn loves to bake and we decided to bake some Gingerbread Cookies before Christmas this year over Zoom! We met up virtually in the afternoon to make the dough itself, then let it sit for a few hours before reconvening at night to roll out the dough, bake it and then decorate the cutout gingerbread cookies. It was so fun to get in the zone and decorate these cookies. Kathryn had the great idea of finding decorating ideas online that gave us some more inspiration. They turned out delicious and festive!
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1⁄2teaspoons baking powder
- 3⁄4teaspoon baking soda
- 1⁄4teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 3⁄4teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1⁄4teaspoon ground cloves
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3⁄4cup dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1⁄2cup molasses
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Directions
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well blended.
- In a large bowl beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended.
- Add molasses and vanilla and continue to mix until well blended.
- Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.
- Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours. (Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. Return to room temp before using.)
- Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
- Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
- Sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin.
- Roll dough to a scant 1/4-inch thick.
- Use additional flour to avoid sticking.
- Cut out cookies with desired cutter. We used ginger bread men and women cookie cutters as well as Christmas trees and snowflakes.
- Space cookies 1 1/2-inches apart.
- Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies).
- Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
- After cookies are cool you may decorate them any way you like. I whipped up some royal icing in between our two sessions and it worked really well with the gingerbread cookies!
Baking With Friends 