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Online Cookie Recipes for this Holiday Season :: Christmas
Cookie Recipe
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Recipes Online ::
Gingies
These are my infamous gingerbread cookies. I have only been
using this recipe for a few years. Before that we used a typical
gingerbread cookie recipe. Those cookies could have been used
as weapons that were so tough and hard. They were much maligned
and joked about every year. I went on a quest to find flavorful
gingerbread cut out cookies that were softer. Through a lot
of experimenting I came up with these cookies. I had to make
over twenty batches last year to keep up with the demand.
I can pretty much guarantee that these will be the best gingerbread
cookies you will ever try, and I will soon have the empty
cookie boxes to prove it. Whereas beforehand we had to layer
on the frosting to make the cookies palatable, these cookies
require minimal frosting for decoration, and need no frosting
for taste. I have included my royal icing recipe at the end
for adding eyes, noses, and most importantly, smiles for your
gingerbread people. People are sometimes thrown by the appearance
of this batter as they are making the cookies. It looks almost
as if you had spoiled butter and it had curdled. It is supposed
to look that way, so do not worry.
3/4 cup unsalted softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
3 1/4 cups flour
In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until
fluffy. Stir in the molasses and water. In a medium bowl whisk
together the remaining ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients
to the butter mixture, stirring constantly. Divide the dough
in half and flatten to a round disk. Wrap each disk in plastic
wrap and chill overnight. (You can freeze half or all of it
if desired for later use.) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
and lightly grease your cookie sheets. On a lightly floured
surface roll out one of the disks, leaving the other chilled.
Roll to a 1/4 inch thickness, adding more flour if needed.
Cut the cookies into desired shapes and place about an inch
apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 6-10 minutes
depending on the size of the cookies. Cookies should be firm
but not browned. Reroll the scraps and continue to cut and
bake until the dough is gone. Cool the cookies on the cookie
sheets for three minutes, then remove to wire racks to finish
cooling. Frost if desired with royal icing and let dry for
24 hours. Store in airtight containers.
Royal Icing
I used to use egg whites in my icing, but because of health
concerns have switched to meringue powder. It is not terribly
expensive and is worth the piece of mind. It is very important
not to overbeat this icing as it can (and will) break down.
You can use the icing white, or tint it using paste food colors.
Liquid food colors tend not to work as well as paste, particularly
in a delicate recipe like icing.
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 large egg white or equivalent meringue powder
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
food coloring if desired
In a large bowl beat the powdered sugar, egg white, cream
of tartar, and orange extract on medium high speed for 5 minutes.
Check and see if you can form peaks with a teaspoon. If you
cannot, beat at a higher speed for a minute more and check
again. Beat and check at thirty second intervals until the
peaks will form. Tint icing with food coloring if desired.
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