The soft gingerbread cookies taste good because they have molasses, brown sugar, and warming spices in them. For a holiday treat that everyone will love, you can frost them or eat them plain.
INGREDIENTS
– 4 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled (500 grams)– 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder– ½ teaspoon baking soda– 1 ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon– 1 tablespoon ground ginger– 1 teaspoon ground clove– 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg– ½ teaspoon salt
INGREDIENTS
– ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened (170 grams; 1 ½ sticks)– ¾ cup packed light or dark brown sugar (150 grams)– ¾ cup unsulphured molasses (230 grams)– 1 large egg at room temperature– 1 large egg yolk at room temperature– 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract– Easy Sugar Cookie Icing for decorating
INSTRUCTIONS
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside. Butter should be smooth in a stand mixer bowl or handheld mixer with the paddle attachment. Add brown sugar and mix for 1–2 minutes.
1
Mix molasses, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until combined, scraping bowl sides as needed. Mix half of the dry ingredients on low speed, then add the other half until just combined.
2
Cut dough in half. Sprinkle flour on a large parchment paper and place half the dough. Palm-flatten the dough, sprinkle more flour, and add another large parchment paper. The dough will be sticky; add flour. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness between parchment paper.
3
Repeat with half the cookie dough between two more parchment papers. Put both cookie dough sheets on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two to three large baking sheets with parchment.
4
Cut the cookie dough into shapes with a 3.5-inch-long, 2.75-inch-wide gingerbread cookie cutter after removing it from the fridge. Place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Try lightly flouring a thin spatula, sliding it under the cut-out cookies, and carefully transferring them to baking sheets.
5
Cookie tops should be set after 8–12 minutes. Cookies vary in size and baking time. I bake mine for 9 minutes for softer cookies. After 5 minutes on the baking sheets, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. You can decorate with simple sugar cookie icing.