I love this recipe because it tastes fantastic, you can make the dough ahead of time, and you can freeze them for later. Also... they make the house smell fantastic when they are baking!
To make these simple (and delicious) seasonal favorites, you'll need the following:
Dry ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Remaining ingredients:
3/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions:
1) Whisk the dry ingredients together, and set aside.
2) Beat the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
3) Combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together, and beat until combined.
4) Form dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a couple of hours. (I left mine overnight.)
5) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then, roll dough onto a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a cookie cutter, and bake on an ungreased (cool) cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes.
6) Let cool completely, and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days... though I doubt they will last that long unless you hide them!
I find it a real holiday sanity saver to do things as far in advance as possible, don't you? I like to make the dough ahead of time. Then, I do the cookie cutting, baking and decorating with my kids the next day. I also like to bake cookies early and pop them in the freezer. This time of year, you never know when you are going to need a homemade sweet treat.
These gingerbread cookies pair well with hot chocolate, and I know Santa would love them too!
♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)
PS (You can find more easy and inexpensive Christmas ideas here.)
