Gingerbread Cutouts Recipes

GINGERBREAD COOKIE CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half; shape each into a disk. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate, covered, until firm enough to roll, 4 hours or overnight., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut 60 gingerbread men using a floured 3-1/2-in. cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. If desired, cut sixty 1-1/4-in. triangles for hats; attach to gingerbread cutouts, pressing edges to seal. If desired, cut sixty 1/4-in. circles; attach to hats for pompoms. , Bake cookies until edges are firm, 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely., Tint some of the frosting red; use red frosting for hats and buttons. Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry bag or heavy-duty resealable plastic bag; insert #3 round pastry tip. Fill bag with white frosting; pipe faces and trim on hands and feet. Using a #16 star pastry tip, pipe decorations on hats.

CLASSIC GINGERBREAD CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the molasses and eggs. Combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour, baking soda, salt, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger; beat into the molasses mixture. Gradually stir in the remaining flour by hand to form a stiff dough.
• Divide dough into 2 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
• In a medium bowl, sift together confectioners' sugar and cream of tartar. Blend in egg whites. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat for about 5 minutes, or until mixture is thick and stiff. Keep covered with a moist cloth until ready to frost cookies.

GINGER SHORTBREAD CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Whisk the flour, ginger and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter, brown sugar and molasses in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually beat in the flour mixture until incorporated.
• Roll out the dough until 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out cookies with 3-inch cookie cutters; arrange 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Gather the scraps and reroll to cut out more cookies. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets.
• Whisk the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth and thick. Transfer the icing to a small resealable bag. Snip a small corner and decorate the cookies. Let set 15 minutes.

GINGERBREAD BROWNIE CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9-inch pan with foil, letting foil hang 2 inches over sides of pan. Spray foil with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix brownie mix, water, oil, eggs, ginger and cinnamon until well blended. Spread in pan.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely, about 1 hour. Freeze in pan 30 minutes.
• Using foil to lift, remove brownies from pan, and peel foil away. Cut out 8 gingerbread men using 3-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter. Gently push brownie out of cutter each time. Set aside end pieces for snacking. If cutter gets sticky, wipe clean with damp paper towel before cutting again.
• Decorate each gingerbread man with cookie icing; place candies for buttons. Let stand about 30 minutes or until icing is set. Store covered in airtight container at room temperature with waxed paper between layers.

SPICED CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in the molasses and egg. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and cardamom; stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the orange juice. Then stir in the orange zest.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters, and place them on an unprepared cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, edges should be slightly browned. Cool cookies on wire racks.

GINGERBREAD CUTOUTS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, corn syrup and spices; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and cool to lukewarm. Stir in eggs and vinegar. Combine the flour and baking soda; stir into sugar mixture to form a soft dough. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or until easy to handle. , On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place on greased baking sheets. Use Red Hots for eyes and buttons. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

GINGERBREAD CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat the brown sugar, molasses, melted butter and egg yolks in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat, gradually increasing the speed to medium high, until the dough comes together, about 3 minutes.
• Roll out the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper coated with cooking spray until 1/8 inch thick. Freeze until firm, 30 minutes.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Cut out cookies using 2-inch cutters; arrange 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Gather the scraps and chill until firm, then reroll once to cut out more cookies. Refrigerate the cutouts until firm, 20 minutes.
• Bake the cookies, switching the pans halfway through, until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
• Make the icing: Beat the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3 to 4 tablespoons water in a bowl with a mixer on high speed until smooth and thick. Transfer to a resealable bag and snip a small corner. Pipe onto the cookies and sprinkle with nonpareils. Let set 30 minutes.

GINGERBREAD CUTOUTS

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar.
• Beat in molasses and egg.
• Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, salt, cinnamon and cloves; add to the creamed mixture alternately with water.
• Mix well.
• Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
• On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness.
• Cut with a cutter of your choice dipped in flour.
• Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes or until edges are firm.
• Don't overbake!
• Remove to wire racks to cool.
• In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave confectionary coating and shortening for 2 minutes.
• Stir; microwave for an additional 2 minutes.
• Stir until completely melted and smooth. Dip cooled cookies into white chocolate and place on waxed paper to harden, OR pour white.
• chocolate into pastry bag or ziploc bag.
• If using ziploc bag, snip a small end from one corner.
• Drizzle chocolate over cookies set upon waxed paper; let chocolate harden completely before handling.
• Yield: about 2 dozen.