Soft & Crisp Gingerbread Cookies
Today at CCH, we want to welcome one of our first guests. Antoinette is a dear friend of mine & when I asked her if she would like to join me in this week's newsletter & submit a delicious holiday recipe, we were thrilled that she accepted. After receiving her recipe, I knew I would need to do a blog post not to cut out any important details or mouth-watering pictures. So please help me give Antoinette a beautiful welcome & leave her a comment at the end of this post.
~ Enjoy ~
Ali
P.S. you can follow Antionette over on Instagram @cozycottageandgarden
This recipe has been a family favorite for some years, & honestly, it’s my favorite. It’s a soft cookie and tastes delicious. Every year I prepare cookie tins to gift to my family & friends, & this cookie is always included.
I usually have my Christmas music playing in the background, along with a cup of tea or hot apple cider. It puts me in the mood to get my baking on for the season!
Christmas holds so many fond memories & being able to gift homemade cookies that are special to my family makes me happy! I hope you try this & maybe it will become your family favorite.
GINGERBREAD COOKIES
What you'll need
To make these soft in the center & crisp on the edges & perfectly spiced. It's important that you chill this recipe for at least three hours, I usually do mine overnight & can be chilled for up to three days.
10 tablespoons of softened unsalted butter @ room temperature
3/4 cup of light or dark brown sugar
2/3 unsulphered molasses
1 large egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour spooned & leveled
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of ginger
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
1/2 teaspoon of cloves
How to make the Gingerbread Cookies
In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment beat the butter for one minute on medium speed until creamy.
Add brown sugar & molasses on medium speed until completely smooth & creamy.
* Note: the butter may separate & that's ok
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice & cloves together until combined.
On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. The cookie dough will be pretty thick & slightly sticky. Divide into half & place each onto a plastic wrap & wrap each one tightly & pat down the center to create a disc. Chill discs for a minimum of three hours & up to three days.
Preheat oven to 300*F line two to three baking trays with parchment paper. I usually use one tray for baking my cookies & letting the tray cool in between each bake.
Remove one disc of chilled cookie dough. Generously flour a work surface as long as your hands & rolling pin. Roll out the disc until 1/4" thick. The dough may crack. Use your fingers to mend the cracking edges. The first few rolls are the hardest, as it becomes more accessible since the dough is stiff.
You can create any shape by using a cookie cutter. I usually use snowflakes & stars. Place them 1" apart as they spread—Bake for nine to ten minutes.
If the cookies are less than 4", bake for eight minutes. If they're larger than 4", bake for 11 minutes. The longer you cook your cookies, the cruncher they will be. If you want softer cookies, follow the step above.
Allow cookies to cool for five minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. The cookies will stay fresh and covered for up to a week.
* Optional Royal Icing
3 3/4 cups of powdered icing sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
In a bowl, combine all ingredients & whisk until stiff, white & glossy, which usually takes about five minutes. You must cover & refrigerate it if you will not be using it immediately, as it will harden quickly. If you like, you can add color to your frosting by adding food coloring. I enjoy these without the icing, as they're delicious.
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