Gingerbread Teddies Recipes

GINGERBREAD BUDDIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and water. In another bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a 3-1/2-in. gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Place a bear-shaped cracker, Cinnamon Chex piece or mini shredded wheat piece in center of each cookie. Gently fold cookie arms toward cracker or cereal piece; press lightly to adhere to bear., Bake 12-14 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, water, corn syrup and vanilla until smooth. Tint frosting as desired with paste food coloring. Transfer frosting to a resealable plastic bag; cut a very small hole in a corner of bag. Pipe frosting onto cookies. Decorate as desired with candies.

GINGERBREAD TEDDY BEARS

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and molasses. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a large bowl; let stand 10 minutes. Stir in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and cloves; gradually add to butter mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight., Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into ten 2-in. balls, ten 1-in. balls, forty 1/2-in. balls and twenty 3/8-in.balls. Place the 2-in. balls on 3 foil-lined baking sheets for the body of 8 bears; flatten to 1/2-in. thickness. Position 1-in. balls for heads; flatten to 1/2-in. thickness. Attach four 1/2-in. balls to each bear for arms and legs. Attach two 3/8-in. balls for ears. Add chocolate chips for eyes and buttons. , Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Cool 10 minutes before carefully removing to wire racks to cool completely. With frosting, pipe ears, muzzle and paws; add sprinkles for fingers, toes and nose.

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.

GINGERBREAD BEAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Cut cookie dough into 4 equal pieces. Work with 1 piece of dough at a time; refrigerate remaining dough until ready to use.
• Cut 1 piece of dough into 10 equal portions. Using 1 portion for each cookie, shape dough into 1-inch ball for body, 1/2-inch ball for head, 4 (1/4-inch) balls for arms and legs, and 2 smaller balls for ears. Arrange balls to look like teddy bear shape on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough, placing cookies 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
• Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Decorate as desired with icing.

GINGERBREAD TEDDIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 2-1/4 cups flour, brown sugar, shortening, molasses, eggs, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Beat on high speed until combined. Beat in remaining flour. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours., Shape dough into 12 balls, 1-3/4 in. each; 12 balls, 1-1/4 in. each; 72 balls, 1/2 in. each; and 60 balls, 3/8 in. each. Place the 1-3/4-in. balls on three foil-lined baking sheets for the body of 12 bears; flatten to 1/2-in. thickness., Attach six 1/2-in. balls to each bear for arms, legs and ears. Attach four 3/8-in. balls for paws. Attach one 3/8-in. ball for nose. Add chocolate chips for eyes and belly buttons. , Make three cuts halfway through the dough on the end of each paw; make an indentation in each ear with a wooden spoon handle., Bake at 350° for 12-16 minutes or until set. Cool for 10 minutes before carefully removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely (cookies will be fragile while warm).

DOUBLE-STUFFED GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• For the gingerbread cookies: Beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the molasses, vanilla and egg until smooth and combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, gingerbread spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. With the electric mixer on low, gradually add the dry mix into the wet until just combined.
• Using a 3/4-ounce cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined plate or baking sheet into uniform balls (you should have about 30 balls, each about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough). Sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. Refrigerate until chilled through, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment.
• Transfer the chilled dough balls to the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each. Bake until the tops are matte and the cookies puff slightly and are just set at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the cookie butter filling: Beat the butter, cookie butter spread and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy and thoroughly combined, about 5 minutes. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating until combined and smooth. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
• Flip half the cookies over and evenly pipe on the cookie butter filling, then sandwich with the remaining cookies to make 15 cookie sandwiches. Refrigerate until the filling is just set, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.