Making Gingerbread men cookies is a Christmas tradition at our house, because what could go wrong with two little boys, molten hot molasses, lots of flour and a high-speed bowl mixer?
Actually not as much as you might think. It was pretty uneventful this year other than Wade trying to take the cinnamon challenge, pouring it straight from the jar into his mouth.
Yeah, it didn’t take long for Wade to decide the wasn’t one of his Top 10 Best Ideas.
My favorite gingerbread men recipe is from the Fanny Farmer cookbook. It makes a nice dough that’s easy to roll and cut out. The cookies come out of the oven spicy with a bit of a crunch on the outside and soft on the inside.
Gingerbread Men Recipe (Fanny Farmer)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp milk
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2-3 tbsp of water, if needed
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease your cookie sheets, or these little guys will stick.
Next bring the molasses to a boil. Turn off the heat, and stir in the sugar, butter and milk. Mix together the rest of the ingredients then add in molasses mixture and blend well. If it seems like the dough isn’t coming together, add water until it will make a nice, smooth ball.
Flour your working surface, and roll out dough and cut cookies.
Bake 5-7 minutes.
Cool and decorate.
Merry Christmas!
YUM! I do enjoy a gingerbread cookie…and those look so much better than the ones with raisins! 🙂