On The Eighth & Ninth Days of Blogmas
Good evening, belles & beaus!
I decided to toss yesterday’s post in with today’s because I let the cookie dough sit overnight. I feel that when making gingerbread cookies, the longer it chills the better the cookies come out! Don’t ask me why, they just seem to.
I’m currently waiting on the cookies to all cool off to start decorating them. To be honest, the recipe I use is one from Food Network that they actually have via Rick Rodgers, Christmas 101, Random House, 1999. The Better Homes & Gardens cookbook has one as well and I have tried it but this one is definitely my favorite recipes! And it’s the second year that I have made these, so they’re fast coming to be a holiday tradition. Baking is my distraction from this world when it gets a little crazy. I just have to decorate these poor naked cookies!
So this is where I leave y’all! The eighth and ninth days of Blogmas combined!
XOXO,
Trula Marie
[recipe title=”Gingerbread Cookies” servings=”3 dozen” difficulty=”easy” image=”https://magnoliasandcrystals.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/dsc08608.jpg” description=”Mmmm, smells like Christmas.”]
My Baking Notes: I omit the Allspice and Cloves in this recipe. It doesn’t hurt the dough to be honest. When I bake I use parchment paper under them. I find it helps them bake more evenly on the bottom. I bake my cookies on the middle rack in two pans and mine are baked at 12 minutes.
[recipe-notes]
Credit: Food Network.com
[/recipe-notes] [recipe-ingredients]
– 3 cups of all-purpose flour
– 1 teaspoon baking soda
– 3/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
– 3/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
– 1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice
– 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 1/4 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
– 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 1/4 cup of vegetable shortening, at room temperature
– 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
– 2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
– 1 large egg
[/recipe-ingredients] [recipe-directions]
1. Position oven racks in the top & bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350ºF.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt, and pepper through a wire sieve into a medium bowl and sit aside.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer at high speed, beat the butter and vegetable shortening until well combined, about 1 minute.
4. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 2 minutes.
5. Beat in the molasses and egg.
6. Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour mixture to make a stiff dough.
7. Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap then refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours.
8. To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated. Remove dough from fridge and let stand at room temperature until it is just warm enough to roll out without cracking, about 10 minutes if it hasn’t been in the fridge longer than 3 hours.
9. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle the top of the dough with flour then roll the dough 1/8 inches thick but make sure that the dough isn’t sticking to the work surface. For soft cookies, roll the dough thicker.
10. Using cookie cutters, cut out the cookies and transfer to a nonstick cookie pan, placing them an inch apart.
11. Knead the scraps together and form into another disk and return it to the fridge. Repeat with the other disk.
12. When baking switch the positions of the cookies from top to bottom ad back to front through the baking until the edges of the cookies are set and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes.
[/recipe-directions]
[/recipe]
