One Bowl Gingerbread Cookies
One Bowl Gingerbread Cookies
(Recipe from Betty Crocker’s 40th Anniversary Edition Cookbook)
Anecdote: Queen Elizabeth of England, is credited with creating gingerbread people in the sixteenth century when she ordered cakes spiced with ginger to be baked in the shales of her friend.
I have been making these cookies for so long, it feels like forever. I have always enjoyed the art of making different shaped cookies, so some years ago, even though this recipe was wonderful and I had gotten a few tricks to make it perfect, I bought a gingerbread specific cookbook to try and broaden my horizons. I tried the recipes and the techniques and it was so complicated! I went back to my tried and true recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook. So here it is!
Enjoy making these, invite kids, friends, nephews, nieces, and grandkids to help you decorate them, that is even more fun!
Yield: 3 dozen or so, depending on the size of the cookies.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 c. shortening
1 ½ c. dark molasses
2/3 c. cold water
7 c. all-purpose flour*
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg (my version)
Mix brown sugar, shortening, molasses and water. Stir in remaining ingredients. Separate in two and cover tightly, refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease or use parchment paper for the cookie sheets.
Roll about ¼ of the dough ¼ inch thick on floured surface. Cut with floured cutters and place about 1 inch apart on cookie sheet.
Using a pastry brush, brush cookie lightly, but completely with water. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until no indentations remains when touched. Cool. Decorate with royal icing or other.
*If using self-rising flour, omit the baking soda and salt.
Note: Royal icing is easy to make, made with egg whites and powdered sugar, I find it is worth making as it dries perfectly and you can stack the cookies, it is also the perfect glue when putting pieces together.
