Monday, December 7, 2009

my favorite Christmas cookie...


Want more Christmas inspiration? Check out "the girl creative" blog party all week...

Day One
Favorite Christmas Recipe...


i have been head over heels  for gingerbread cookies since i was a little girl - and the obsession has never ended! my husband doesn't like them and only one of my daughters likes them, but i'm ok with that -- so the tradition doesn't continue, but it just means more cookies for me - and there's never even a crumb left after i bake a batch!

here is the most de-lish recipe - i've have tried quite a few over the years, but after discovering this one, i have stopped searching -- this comes from the
Santa Ana California Discovery Science Center...

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup molasses
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup granulate white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp.
1 large egg
2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and spices. set aside. in a bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluggy using an electric mixer. add the egg and the molasses and beat until well combined. gradually add the flour mixture until it is mixed in well.
divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight .

preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven. line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside while you roll out the dough. on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. use a gingerbread cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. with a spatula, lift the cookies onto the baking sheet, placing the cookies about 1 inch apart. bake for about 8-10 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. they are done when they are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown.

now for the important part -- confectioners frosting:
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tbs milk or light cream
add assorted food colors if desired.

it was always a tradition growing up for the girls in our family to spend a saturday at my grandma's with she and my great grandma, baking  ten to fifteen different kinds of Christmas cookies. we included everyone's favorites and then created cookie tins to take home as well as to pass out to friends at church. i remember having eaten all the gingerbreads i had put in my tins before pulling in to the driveway of our house. i  loved this baking cooking tradition and miss it dearly. the pictures below were taken of me making the gingerbread cookies when my aunt visited me here in california back in 2007. i even wore my great grandma's apron and old glasses to have her spirit with me...or maybe i can just blame those silly glasses on the miller lite in the picture.

 


i will happily accept freshly baked gingerbread cookies in the mail if you want to share some cookie love!
happy baking!

5 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for linking up! :) Ya know, Gingerbread cookies are usually never my first pick for cookies but today i opened up a bag for my daughter and the smell was just sooooooooo good! I definitely should eat them more often. :) This looks like a fun project to try with the kids.

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  2. The glasses are adorable on you!
    The cookies are cute, too! I'll have to try them. We made non-edible gingerbread cookies for ornaments and I've been thinking about making some to EAT ever since!

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  3. I made gingerbread men one year when my kids were little and we hung some on the tree...by Christmas day they were missing arms and legs...the kids couldn't stop nibbling!

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  4. What a yummy treat. My first thought was "that's a lot of work". Our yearly tradition is to decortae a gingerbread house. You know, the pre-made ones. It's always great family fun time! I'll be blogging about it later today if you'd like to check it out and see our decorating talents. (Don't expect much.) Have a great day!

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