One of my favorite holiday traditions is baking Christmas cookies and decorating them with my kids. I love a good gingerbread cookie and this recipe from Marian Tindall is a favorite.
I don’t know about you but I could really use a break from the shopping and wrapping for some fun downtime with the kids.
So cue the Christmas tunes on Pandora, serve up some cocoa or cinnamon tea and let all that holiday anxiety melt away.
Enjoy! -alyce eyster
Gingerkid Cookies
Author: Marian Tindall
Recipe Type: cookie
Prep Time:
Cook Time:
Total Time:
Serves: 24 cookies, depending on size
Ingredients
- 3⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¾ cup solid vegetable shortening, room temperature
- 1¾ cups light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup honey
- ⅓ cup molasses
- 2 Tblsp grated fresh ginger
- Butter Frosting:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tblsp heavy cream, or more
Instructions
- Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and cayenne pepper into a bowl and mix with a spoon to incorporate spices evenly.
- Place the vegetable shortening in a mixer bowl with the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is smooth and pale in color. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until egg is thoroughly incorporated. Add the honey, molasses and ginger and mix on low speed until combined.
- Remove bowl from mixer and add half of the dry ingredients. Stir in with a rubber spatural. Repeat with the rest of the dry ingredients. Stir in with a ribber spatula. Repeat with the rest of the dry ingredients and stir until well-blended. (These steps are done by hand to avoild over beating which would toughen the dough.)
- Divide the dough into two balls. Flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours. The dough will still feel pliable, but will be easy to roll or form into balls.
- Preheat he oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or a Silpat. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll our to ½-inch thickness (no less, unless you want really crisp cookies). Cut info desired shapes. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheet, as they will spread when baked. Add raisins, currants, red hots or sugar sprinkels before baking. Bake 15-20 mins, depending on how crisp you like them.
- For the butter frosting, cream butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla. Then add cream gradually until frosting is the right consistency for decorating. Divide frosting into several bathches and color green, yellow, read and blue, leaving some white.
- Pipe or spread onto cookies as desired. Assemble a variety of colored sugars, cake decors, red hots, raisins or currants for buttons or eyes.
Photo: Mary Herrmann, Styling: Julie Hettiger
Thanks for stopping by. Here's to great food and good thymes! -