Cooking Around the Calendar

The holiday season is here! You still have time to make a few treats before the New Year and these gingerbread cookies have always been a holiday hit. We love to decorate them as much as we love to eat them, because this recipe doesn’t skimp on the great ginger flavor.

When I was little, we would have the cookies, the frosting, and the sprinkles spread out all over the dining table and the creativity would flow. It’s a treasured holiday memory, one I would reenact a generation later with my own kids.

Whether you like yours in plain rounds with a little sugar on top or rolled out into gingerbread men (and women!) or fanciful holiday shapes and decorated with cream cheese icing, you can’t miss the extra ginger in these cookies.

To let your young artists decorate the cookies without getting frosting, sprinkles and cookie crumbs everywhere: Get a disposable plastic table cloth from your local dollar store. Cover your table, load it up with everything you need to decorate, and let everyone have at it. Once the cookies are done, just toss the tablecloth.

Triple Ginger Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies, with Cream Cheese Frosting in Holiday Shapes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Holiday

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 cup dark brown sugar packed
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 2 teaspoosn baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger root peeled and finely grated
• 1/3 cup cyrstallized ginger finely minced

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and molassess.
3. In a seperate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and ground spices.
4. Gently stir flour mixture into the molasses mixture. Stir in the fresh and crystalized gingers.
5. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
6. For round, sugared cookies: You will need ½ cup large crystal sugar.

   Place sugar in small bowl. Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball between palms, then roll ball in sugar to coat; place on lightly greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, spacing cookies 1 ½ inches apart.

   Bake cookies until lightly browned and cookies are firm around edges but still slightly soft in center, about 10 minutes. Cool on wire racks, then store in a tightly sealed container.
7. For holiday shapes:  You will need 1 batch of Cream Cheese Cookie Frosting.

   Roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into shapes with your choice of holiday cookie cutters. Place cookies on a lightly greased bakingsheet, spacing cookies 1 inch apart.

   Bake cookies until edges are lightly browned and the center is set, about 10 minutes. Larger cut outs may require more time ,smaller ones may take less time. Cool on wire racks. Frost with cream cheese icing, decorate with sprinkles, colored sugar, etc.

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Cream Cheese Cookie Frosting

A tasty cookie frosting that goes especailly well with gingerbread cutout cookies.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Holiday

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups powered sugar

Method

 

1. In a large mixing bowl, whip together the cream cheese, butter, milk, vanilla and salt. Slowly add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. The mixture should be a fairly stiff, but still spreadable frosting.
2. If you would like colored frosting, divide into portions and tint each with food coloring.
3. Decorate cookies as desire with colored sugar, sprinkles, etc.
4. Let cookies sit overnight for the frosting to firm up, then store in a tightly sealed containter.

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!