Gingy: Eat me! Farquaad: I’ve tried to be fair to you creatures, now my patience has reached its end! Tell me, or I will – Gingy: No! Not the buttons! Not my gumdrop buttons!
It’s exciting how ground ginger + molasses can make something magical like gingerbread. It’s the most versatile combination. Cake, bread, cupcakes, drinks, or something with personality, gingerbread men.
Ingredients 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter 1/4 cup vegetable shortening 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 2/3 cup molasses 1 large egg 1 pound confectioners’ sugar 2 large egg whites 2 tablespoons warm water
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and salt.
In a large bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter with the shortening and brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the molasses and egg to the butter mixture and beat until smooth.
At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients until combined.
Scrape the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and pat it into a disk. Refrigerate until very cold and firm, at least 4 hours.
Gingerbread men cookie dough
Preheat the oven to 350°. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
Cut the dough in half; work with one piece at a time and keep the other refrigerated.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 3/8 inch thick.
Flour 3-inch cookie cutters to discourage the dough from sticking. Stamp out cookies as close together as possible and transfer them to baking sheets.
Gather the scraps, pat them into a disk and refrigerate until firm.
Bake the cookies for about 16 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned; shift the pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking.
Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool. Repeat with the remaining dough and scraps.
You can make gingerbread dough ahead of time, roll it out, stamp it out, flour, and freeze it!
Gingerbread lovers ♥
Pearls
Suspenders
Gingy from Shrek
So I got a little hungry while decorating…
Glittery vest to keep Mr. Gingerbread warm!
What’s a great stress reliever? Decorating gingerbread men! During finals week, I took a batch to my freshmen students to decorate. I have to say, they were a lot more creative than me.
Jane Ko is the Austin blogger behind A Taste of Koko, Austin's top food and travel blog featuring the hottest restaurants and weekend getaways. Jane has been a speaker at South by Southwest (SXSW), Texas Conference for Women, BlogHer, and more on entrepreneurship and social media. She lives in Austin Texas with her dog and cat.
