Tuesday, December 16, 2008

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

I was asked to bake gingerbread men to use in a Christmas program at our church on Sunday evening. They were well-received and eagerly devoured after the program. A few people mentioned they had my gingerbread recipe and I thought, "No, I don't think you have this one". Maybe I should have "fessed up" but I didn't volunteer that I made the gingers from a Betty Crocker cookie mix this time. It's a quick and easy way to make ginger cookies and they came out looking and tasting great. Spouse helped me tie red ribbons on them so they could be easily hung on a Christmas tree.
I do have a favorite gingerbread cookie recipe, which I'll share here, but why not take advantage of the cookie mixes when we can? The Betty Crocker gingerbread mix is only available at holiday time and it's not easy to find, but when the cookies are baking, the house smells just as wonderful as when you bake the long way. I don't think anyone will ask if the cookies were made "from scratch". People will be too busy eating them to care how they were made. Here's my favorite gingerbread recipe (besides Betty Crocker's):


GINGERBREAD COOKIES

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. dark molasses
1/4 c. water
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
Beat sugar, shortening, molasses and water in a large bowl on low speed until blended. Beat on medium speed 1 minute. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, 1 to 2 hours.
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle counter top with flour; turn dough onto surface. Roll dough with a rolling pin until 1/4 inch thick. Cut with gingerbread man cutter.
Lift cookies carefully with a large spatula onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate cookies with raisins or cinnamon candies (optional). Bake until set - 8 to 10 minutes. Let cookies cool 3 minutes, then carefully remove from cookie sheet with a spatula.
Cool and decorate with frosting if you like. Makes about 1 dozen large cookies.

4 comments:

Shelley said...

I love those Betty Crocker cookie mixes! I making the peanut butter cookies w/ the chocolate cookies. Thank you for the gingerbread recipe! I was reading about Bigger Tigger in your side bar - my kitty is a head butter too! Often times when I'm sleeping - LOL! (I bought this cat behavior book and I was happy to read that this was a sign of affection like you said! Also - did you know when they half close their eyes and blink at you softly several times - that's affection too?)

Kady said...

Hi Shelley - those mixes come in very handy! Scroll way down to the bottom of my blog and you'll see a BIG picture of Big Tig. He was already neutered and declawed on the front paws when found. He can be a little bit tempramental and that might be why someone abandoned him. But he's a very affectionate kitty. I did know that about their eyes - and if you squint and blink, it will cause them to do it too sometimes. Isn't that neat? I love cats!...Kady

American Homemaker said...

LOL... those mixes are sometimes my secret recipe too :)

Kady said...

Angie...some of them taste every bit as good as "scratch" baking and they're very easy to use. I always thought baking the long way was the "right" way to do it, but I've changed my mind!

Kady