Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The Gingerbread Man


The Gingerbread Man visited our house a few nights ago and left a pile of friends. We chatted and laughed as we worked, mixing the dough, rolling it out, and cutting the cookies. After decorating them, we admired our work and complimented everyone who helped. My kids have been enjoying the cookies ever since.

These are spicy. The molasses makes them dark, like chocolate. Our version is low in fat. We reduced the butter in the recipe to half the original amount and substituted yogurt. But you don't have to do that. You can just make the original version with 1/2 cup butter, instead.

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup fat free yogurt or apple butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 egg whites
1/2 tablespoon cider vinegar


1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups plain flour


extra flour for rolling dough.
various decorations for the cookies, your preference.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Soften butter in microwave for 20 seconds in a large mixing bowl.
3. Beat the sugar into the butter until well-blended.
4. Beat in the yogurt, egg whites. molasses, and vinegar.
5. In medium sized bowl, blend the baking powder, spices, baking soda, salt, and flour.
6. Add these dry ingredient to the wet mixture with a wooden spoon.
7. Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours or overnight.
8. Use extra flour as needed to keep dough from getting sticky.
Add flour by the 1/2 cup, so that you don't add more than you need
and make the cookies dry.
9. Roll the cookie dough out on a counter top to 1/4 inch thickness
on top of a light dusting of flour.
10. Cut the dough with cookie cutters. Dip the cutters into flour occasionally
to keep them from getting too sticky.
11. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheets.
12. Brush off the excess flour from the surface of the cookies.
Mist them with water or brush them lightly with a moist brush or paper towel.
This will help the decorations to stick to them better.
13. Place the decorations on the cookies. Press them lightly into the dough.
14. Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes.
15. Cool the cookies for a few minutes on the cookie sheet,
then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

This recipe makes about 40 cookies. We doubled it. This gave us a large platter of cookies which was just the right size for a family to enjoy.
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I was surprised to learn this Christmas that everyone has not eaten a gingerbread cookie. Have you tasted one before? Did you like it?

6 comments:

  1. We LOVE gingerbread cookies!!! I actually like the dough better than the cookies, but don't tell anyone :) We make them in all shapes, and the kids enjoy decorating them. It's the one time of year that icing is freely dispursed!
    We also make all other kinds of cookies - but the gingerbread is the only one we make only at Christmastime. I am glad you enjoyed making (and eating) them!
    Shellie

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  2. You bet I've had Gingerbread Man cookies! Question for you, is your finished cookie a HARD cookie or a SOFT cookie?

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  3. It is soft -- sink-your-teeth-into-it soft. I think that's because we make the lower fat version. Lower fat means a softer cookie. The full-fat version is a bit more crunchy.

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  4. We love to make gingerbread men, although I am not a huge fan of ginger. Go figure! I think it is the coziness of the idea of a plate of gingerbread people. ;-)

    Re: comment - I like the idea of the holiday pasta salad you are doing. Is it a hot or cold dish?

    Jen

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  5. Inglesidemom,

    I left my reply in your comments on your blog today! The answer is -- you can choose how you like it!

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  6. You know, I don't know if I've ever actually had a traditional gingerbread cookie. My mom made a loaf of gingerbread last year and it was simply awesome. My husband loves gingerbread. Maybe I'll give your cookie recipe a try.

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