My sisters and I gathered on Monday for our first annual cookie baking & decorating day.
We made “undercover” mammary munchies {with oatmeal cookie dough}, sugar cookies in various shapes, raspberry pecan pinwheels, gingerbread characters, and chocolate-dipped pretzel rods a plenty!
And lots of coffee & tea, but of course!
It was a blast!
{Except for the part where I reversed into my sister’s car. But let’s not talk about that {gulp}.
My older sister {owner of sad, little vehicle} worked her Martha Stewart madness on the gingerbread people, pressing “hair” through a garlic press and cutting out the sweetest little details for their adorable, gingery bodies {you’ll find the recipe below}.
I take absolutely all credit for their perfectly crafted little eyes, which included all the brilliance of punching holes with a plastic straw and systematically “spitting” them across the counter with a burst of air.
Gross? Quite possibly.
Fun? Absolutely!
We call this one…”Jonas-bread boy”…
Just look at that astonishingly luscious head of hair!
Then there’s the baby brother, and the momma…
and daddy and little sister. Aren’t they just…edible?
The little girls even got into the decorating spirit, heaping their faceless gingerbread people with…well, let’s just call it sugary bling, shall we?
{needless to say, no naps were taken during the Monday baking frenzy}
We may have also, hypothetically speaking, crafted some naughty gingerbread people for our parents who were away celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary. Just maybe. If they weren’t quite so…hmm, anatomically correct and…well-endowed {wink wink, nudge nudge}, I’d show you the photos.
What can I say…4 sisters, lots of sugar & caffiene…and parents who taught us well!
Without further ado, the Gingerbread recipe…
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup unsulfured molasses
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 4 teaspoons powdered egg whites (meringue powder)
{Makes roughly 18 gingerbread people}
Directions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy; beat in egg and molasses. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; mix just until combined.
- Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days, or freeze up to 3 months (thaw before baking).
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks set in upper and lower thirds. Working with one disk at a time, place dough on lightly floured parchment paper, and roll out to 1/8 inch thick, dusting lightly with flour as needed. Using paper, lift dough onto two baking sheets; freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.
- Remove paper and dough from baking sheets. Using a long offset spatula, loosen dough from paper. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters, and brush off any excess flour. Transfer to baking sheets. (Gather scraps, briefly freeze, and re-roll.)
- For softer cookies, bake 8 to 10 minutes; for crunchier cookies, bake 11 to 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make icing: In a large bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar, powdered egg whites, and 1/4 cup water (if needed, adjust consistency with confectioners’ sugar). Transfer icing to a pastry bag with a small tip, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and snip a small hole in one corner. Decorate cookies, and store in a single layer in airtight containers.
Recipe: Martha Stewart {who’s mad creative skillz my older sister now channels on a scarily frequent basis}
Carpe Cookiem.
