Monday, November 24, 2014

12 days of baking || anne's gingerbread cookies

jeff's mom anne has one of the best recipes for gingerbread cookies. one that has been made every year since jeff and his brother kyle were little boys, and one that we look most forward to inhaling each december. a delicious treat full of happy memories.


because my brain wont keep up with me lately, i was forced to make a couple small modifications to anne's completely perfected recipe, but the results, thankfully, were equally delicious.
  • i substituted butter for shortening because i didnt have shortening on hand. the cookies turned out just great, but with the butter substitute, i chilled the dough for a couple hours before rolling it out. 
  • anne's classic recipe uses smarties for buttons on the gingerbread men. i forgot to add them to the grocery list (and all thats left of finn's halloween candy is suckers. bad parents.) so instead, i made this simple icing to drizzle over the top. it was almost as delicious as smarties.
  • anne traditionally cuts the dough into gingerbread people shapes, both big and small, but finn recently picked out a snowflake cookie cutter at the store and was adamant we use it when we made these. who am i to argue? 

anne's gingerbread cookies
:: ingredients ::
1 cup shortening or butter (or a mix of the two)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup molasses
1 egg
4 cups flour
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
smarties or simple icing to top

:: directions ::
preheat oven to 325 degrees
in a large bowl, cream together sugar and shortening/ butter
add in molasses and mix until incorporated
beat one add and add to the liquid mixture
in a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and spices.
add flour mixture into wet ingredients and mix until combined
flour your surface and roll dough out until 1/3" thick
cut shapes and add smarties (if using)
bake for 10-15 minutes (around 12 minutes is perfect for large shaped gingerbread men or snowflakes)
to avoid breaking, let the cookies cool on the baking tray for a bit before moving to a wire cooling rack. let them cool completely if you plan to ice them.

enjoy!


 to see more of the 12 days of baking recipes, click HERE