Gingerbread People

Recipe by: Georgeanne Brennan | from Christmas Sweets: 65 Festive Recipes, Table Decorations, Sweet Gift Ideas

Cookstr

Course: Dessert, Snack

Total Time: Under 1 Hour

Skill Level: Easy

Cost: Inexpensive

Photo by: Joseph De Leo

Gingerbread people are virtually required for the holiday season, and they are easy to make. If children help, it is great fun. The ideal dough is soft enough to roll out, yet stiff enough to hold the forms, resulting in finished cookies that are moist but not crumbly. Decorate with currants, cranberries, candies, frosting, and confectioners’ sugar.

Yield: Makes about sixteen 4-inch cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 teaspoon plus ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup light molasses
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon freshly ground cloves
½ teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
¼ to 1/3 cup milk
Dried currants, red-hots, fresh or dried cranberries, and silver dragées for decorating

Frosting:

Confectioners’ sugar
Milk
Food coloring as needed
Silver dragées (optional)
Colored sugars (optional)

Directions

Preheat an oven to 350° F. Using the 1 teaspoon butter, grease a large baking sheet.

In a large bowl, beat the ½ cup butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses until well blended. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.

Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until well blended. Beat in about ¼ cup milk, then add the remaining flour mixture, beating it in well. The dough will be very stiff. If it is too stiff and crumbly to roll out, add tablespoon of additional milk.

On a well-floured work surface, roll the dough out to a thickness of about ½ inch, then cut into shapes using cookie cutters or by tracing with a knife around cardboard cutouts. Transfer the shapes to the prepared pan.

Decorate the gingerbread people with currant eyes and red-hots for buttons, pressing them into the dough before baking, or attach them with frosting after baking.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed and spring back when pushed with your finger. Transfer the cookies from the pan to a wire rack to cool. Decorate with the frosting as desired.

To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar and milk and stir until a stiff but spreadable paste forms. (It may seem overly stiff, but too much milk will make an unworkable frosting. If it is necessary to add more milk, do so only ½ teaspoon at a time.)

Divide the frosting among separate bowls and mix in food coloring as desired. Frost the cookies while they are warm or cool. If the cookies are warm, the frosting will spread more easily.

Add decorative silver dragées and colored sugars (if desired) before the frosting dries.

Editor's Note

Serving size is 1 cookie. Nutritional information does not include Frosting, Dried currants, red-hots, fresh or dried cranberries, and silver dragées for decorating.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Nutrients per serving (% daily value)

Calories 198kcal (10%)

Calcium 38mg (4%)

Vitamin C 0mg (0%)

Vitamin A 52mcg RAE (2%)

Potassium 198mg

Magnesium 32mg

Protein 3g

Sugar 13g

Fiber 1g

Total Carbohydrate 33g