my favorite Christmas cookie...

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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!