Growing up, gingerbread men cookies were something we occasionally bought at a bakery, but never made at home. Perhaps it’s because they’re associated with Christmas, and well, being Jewish, we don’t celebrate Christmas, or maybe it’s just because my mom was not much a cut out cookie kind of person. (Except for a sugar cookie recipe that I must copy next time I’m in town, that I believe came from Aunt Helen–she of mandelbrot fame.)
Anyway, on to the cookie. The original recipe calls for margarine, which I never have in my house, so I used butter. Also, I swapped out half of the regular sugar for brown sugar as I wanted a slightly chewier cookie, and I’m happy with the texture. And although the title of the original recipe calls them spicy, they aren’t. In fact, they’re just right and oh so delicious!
If you’re looking for photos of the process, sorry, there aren’t any. This recipe has molasses in it, and as we know, I hate the smell of molasses and had to work super fast and not take pictures as to not gag for longer than I had to. Seriously, it’s that gross.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg yolk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preparation
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. (Mine barely spread so I think 2 inches is very generous.)
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com [1].