But the Fire is so Delightful!

I have about a dozen different recipes for gingerbread cookies, all from sources that are either reputable or as yet, completley unexplored. Last year, I broke our food processor with a recipe that called for way too much flour.

I decided to make some little gingerbread men for work to add a little bit of holiday spirit to our baked goods, but when I remembered the incident with the food processor, and believe me, it was a sight to be seen, I became skeptical of all my gingerbread recipes.



It was then that I realized the molasses jar would surely have a tried and true gingerbread cookie recipe on the back; when I checked, I found I was right. My hesitation was completely gone and I made some delicious gingerbread angels and Christmas trees. Because I was selling them to customers, I didn't want to use anything to decorate them that people could dislike/be allergic to. So, I just sprinkled all of the shapes with some sugar before I baked the cookies, and the result was subtle, festive, and successful.



Gingerbread Cookies
Makes 1 dozen

1/2 cup butter or shortening, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (or allspice)

Beat butter with sugar and molasses. Mix in egg completely. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Mix well. Chill in freezer for 1 hour or in refrigerator for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out a portion of the dough 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured board. Be sure to keep dough you are not working with cold. Cut with cookie cutters and place on greased baking sheets. If decorating with raisins or sugar, add them at this time.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Pipe on royal icing and add candy pieces, if desired.

Ginger-iffic

When I make a batch of cookies, I usually have to split it in half or in thirds because I don't really have anyone that I can push three dozen cookies on once a week. Since my grandpa got out of the hospital, he has steroid-induced diabetes, so the number of baked goods I have been able to give him has decreased significantly.



Anyway, I made these ginger cookies because I really like molasses-based goodies and it originally makes 18 cookies, which meant that I didn't have to deal with weird measurements like 5/16ths of a teaspoons.



The only problem I ever really have with ginger and molasses is that I can never really tell when they're done, which can lead to some overcooking. I think these were just about perfect though; the crunchy sugar topping really brought out the spice of the actual cookie.




Ginger Nuts
Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons molasses
1/2 cup unrefined dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Granulated sugar, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the butter, molasses, brown sugar, and egg in a large bowl. Sift the remaining dry ingredients together and sitr into the butter mixture.

Using about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dought at a time, form the dough into balls. Place the balls 2 inches apart on a non-stick baking sheet or a standard baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Lightly press the cookies into 1 1/4-inch rounds.

Refrigerate the cookies for one hour before baking. Then, sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake for 10 to 12 minutes; the cookies will puff up, then settle when cooked. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.