My favourite gingerbread

• Vegetarian

• Produce

  • 1 2/3 tbsp Ginger, ground

• Refrigerated

  • 1 Egg, large
  • 2 Egg whites

• Condiments

  • 1 cup Molasses, unsulphured

• Baking & Spices

  • 4 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp Baking soda
  • 3/4 cup Brown sugar, firmly packed light
  • 2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Cloves, ground
  • 1 tbsp Cocoa powder, unsweetened
  • 2 cups Confectioners' sugar
  • 1 pinch Cream of tartar
  • 1 Food colouring
  • 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
  • 1 tsp Salt

• Dairy

  • 3/4 cup Butter, unsalted

Found on wannacomewith.com

Description

Ingredients

• ingredients
• 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 cup unsulphured molasses
• for the royal icing (optional)
• 2 egg whites (or 1-1/2 tablespoons powdered egg white and 1/4 cup warm water)
• pinch cream of tartar (optional)
• 2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
• food colouring (optional)

Directions

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, spices, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 or 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, beating well. Gradually add the molasses and continue to beat until its smooth.
• Scrape the sides of the bowl again. Turn the mixer down to low and add the dry ingredients in 2 portions, mixing until just barely combined. Remove from the mixer. At this point, every time I make this recipe, I think I mis-measured something because the dough is so crumbly. Trust me – knead it together by hand for a minute, and it will come together.
• Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Flatten each piece to about 1/2 and wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours (overnight is fine).
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove one of the dough pieces from the fridge (many people recommend rolling the dough out cold, but I find it easier to work with when its warmed up a bit). On a lightly floured surface, a silpat sheet, or a sheet of wax or parchment paper (whatever your preference), roll the dough out to 1/8 to 3/16 thickness.
• Cut the dough into desired shapes and transfer the cut pieces to your cookie sheet. I find that dipping the cookie cutter in flour after each cut helps prevent sticking. Once you have a sheet full, bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until they just begin to colour. Allow to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before removing the cookies from the pan and allowing them to cool completely before icing.
• Repeat with the rest of the dough.
• royal icing
• You totally dont have to ice these cookies. Ive made this gingerbread without icing before, and it tastes great. However, if you want to get fancy...
• Ive seen a few different methods for mixing royal icing. Some recipes call for whipping the egg whites to a stiff peak before adding the sugar, but I dont think thats necessary. The first recipe I tried just called for combining the ingredients together right off the bat and mixing, and it worked fine, so Ive stuck with that.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites, confectioners sugar, and cream of tartar (optional – it just helps to stabilize the egg whites). If youre using powdered egg whites instead of fresh, you can whisk them together with the water first and let them stand for about 3-5 minutes to hydrate before combining with the other ingredients.
• Beat on low speed for about 30 seconds, just until all the ingredients are mixed together so you dont end up with confectioners sugar all over your kitchen. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and increase the mixer speed to medium high. Continue beating for about 5 to 7 minutes, until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form.
• If youre going to use colours, add them before thinning the icing, as the colouring will have an effect on the thickness. Divide the icing into separate bowls, one for each colour. Add the colour, mixing well until you achieve the hue you want. Then thin the icing with water until its the consistency you want – be careful to add the water very slowly so it doesnt get too thin too quickly, just a teaspoon or so at a time. If you do happen to make it too thin, you can add a bit more confectioners sugar, or some of the uncoloured icing.
• Once youre happy with the colours and consistency, transfer the icing to pastry bags fitted with decorating tips. If Im doing fine line work, I like to use a #1 plain tip. For these cookies, I used a #2. To keep the tip from drying out & getting crusty, store the bags of icing tip-down in a drinking glass with a piece of moistened paper towel in the bottom. If you dont finish your decorating all in one session, this icing will keep in the fridge for a few days.
• I found that this made way more icing than I needed for this particular cookie recipe, but working with smaller amounts in the mixer is a bit difficult. Feel free to cut the icing recipe in half if you want to give it a shot, though.
• There are a lot of amazingly talented cookie decorators out there. Check out sweetsugarbelle, sweetopia, and sweetambs for some inspiration. These people are amazing. I wont even pretend to be able to do what they do.