We baked this weekend. A lot. Every year our kitchen turns into a Cookie Factory as we make 60 or more dozen Christmas cookies to box up and send out to friends and family all over the country.
Julia’s favorite is gingerbread people (“gingerboys”), and so I always make plenty of those to keep around for us. Gingerbread keeps well for a week or more –even in the open– so instead of keeping them in a tin, I use our gingerboys (of both genders) to decorate a small tree that we keep on the kitchen counter in Southampton. To turn the cookies into edible ornaments, I make a small hole with a drinking straw before baking and thread it with a red ribbon afterward. A nearby pair of scissors invites guests to snip of a cookie anytime they like. (Gingerbread is delicious with red wine as well as coffee.)
I’ve tried many recipes for rolled gingerbread over the years, but this is my favorite –the flavor is vivid, and the dough is easy to work with.
Recipe
(adapted from Martha Stewart)
Ingredients
6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
4 teaspoons ground ginger
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon finely ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 large eggs
1 cup unsulfured molasses
Instructions
Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Set aside.
Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 1/4-inch thick. Cut into shapes. Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or baking mats and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
Decorate with Royal Icing piped from a pastry tube using a #3 pastry tip.
Royal Icing
1 pound confectioners’ sugar
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Mix ingredients together until smooth. Spread or pipe onto cookies. If icing becomes too firm, add a few drops of water and stir.
