Melissas Gingerbread Cookies Recipes

GLUTEN-FREE GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, sift together the rice, tapioca and buckwheat flours, the baking soda, xanthan gum, ginger, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Whisk until well blended, and set aside.
• In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to cream the butter with the brown sugar until the mixture is light, airy and pale tan, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and mix again on medium until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the molasses and vanilla, and mix again at medium speed for another minute. Add half the dry ingredients and mix on low until incorporated. Add the second half of the dry ingredients and mix on low until the dough comes together in small clumps. (The dough will resemble thick brownie batter.) If the dough is too wet and not clumpy, add another tablespoon or two of rice flour. Using your hands, bring the dough together into a ball and knead for 1 minute, or until you can make a smooth ball of dough. Shape the dough into a disk and place in a resealable plastic bag, removing excess air. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. (If the dough chills much longer than an hour, let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes to soften before proceeding.)
• When ready to make the cookies, adjust oven racks to the top and bottom thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
• Divide the dough in 3 equal portions. Refrigerate two portions while you work on the first. Roll the dough out to a 1/8-inch thickness. (Best method for GF cookies is to use parchment paper barely dusted with rice flour on the top and bottom of the dough - this avoids needing to use a lot of extra bench flour to keep the dough from sticking to the counter). Use cookie cutters to cut out gingerbread men. You should be able to cut out 5 to 6 gingerbread men from each third of the dough, assuming they are 3 inches tall. Gather and re-roll the scraps. (Don't worry about overworking the dough, there isn't any gluten.)
• Arrange the gingerbread men on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart and bake until the edges just begin to take on golden color, 8 to 10 minutes. (For softer cookies, cook a minute or 2 less.) Let the cookies cool for a minute on the cookie sheet, and then remove and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Let the baking sheets cool completely.
• Repeat the process for the remaining dough portions.
• Once completely cooled, decorate the cookies with colored Easy Royal Icing, along with candies, nuts and sprinkles.
• In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer on low speed to mix the egg whites until frothy, about 2 minutes. Add the orange juice and vanilla and mix again until blended. Sift in the confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then mix on low speed until incorporated. After the third cup of sugar is added, keep mixing until the icing is smooth, thick and shiny, about 2 more minutes. (Add an extra tablespoon or 2 of confectioners' sugar if the icing seems runnier, like a glaze.) Divide into 2 or 3 portions, add desired amount of food coloring and mix well.
• Fill a few tablespoons of royal icing in the corner of a resealable plastic bag, snip the tip and draw (or spread the icing with a paintbrush) onto the cookies (thin with a drop or 2 of extra juice). Chill the cookies in the refrigerator for a few minutes to harden the icing.

MELISSA'S GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Place molasses, sugar, ginger, and cinnamon in a double boiler over medium. When the sugar has melted, add the baking soda and stir. When the mixture bubbles up, remove from heat. Place butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the hot molasses mixture and stir well. Let mixture cool to about 90F., then add the egg. Gradually add the flour, 1 c. at a time, while beating. Preheat oven to 325 and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters Bake for 15 mins or so.

AUNT MABEL'S SUPER EASY GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch square baking dish.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves together in a large bowl.
• Place molasses, canola oil, applesauce, brown sugar, white sugar, and eggs into a mixing bowl and beat until well combined. Add flour mixture and mix, starting on low speed, until just combined. Mix in boiling water until combined; mixture will be very wet. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until center is rounded and edges are golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Cut into squares. Best served warm, or at any temperature.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, molasses and shortening. Place over medium-low heat and stir just until mixture is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and mix in baking soda and 1/4 cup cold water. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Add egg, salt, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and cloves; stir to mix well. Add 4 cups flour and mix well, adding up to 1/2 cup more if dough seems sticky. Shape into a ball, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness, and cut into gingerbread boy shapes with a 5-inch-long cookie cutter. Arrange on baking sheets 1 1/2 inches apart, and bake until risen and no longer shiny, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow cookies to cool. If desired, decorate with royal icing and cinnamon candies. Store in an airtight container.

MELISSA'S GRANDMA'S GINGER LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat 2 cups sugar, shortening, and molasses together in a bowl using an electric stand mixer until uniform, making sure not to overbeat. Add eggs and mix for 30 seconds.
• Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt together in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and mix until just combined and dough is stiff.
• Pour 2 tablespoons sugar in a shallow bowl. Form cookie dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar, making sure not to flatten. Place on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cookies crackle on top for 'lace' design, 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in molasses and egg. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients; mix just until a dough forms. Place dough on floured plastic wrap; pat into an 8-inch square. Wrap well; chill until firm, 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide dough in half. Working with one half at a time (rewrap and refrigerate other half), place dough on floured parchment or waxed paper; roll out 1/8 inch thick, turning, lifting, and flouring dough (and rolling pin) as needed. Freeze dough (on paper) until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Loosen dough from paper. Cut out shapes, and transfer to baking sheets. Decorate with sugar or sprinkles, as desired.
• Bake until firm and edges just begin to darken, 10 to 18 minutes, depending on size. Cool completely on baking sheets.

MOLASSES-GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl.
• Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Divide dough into 3 portions, and wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a generously floured piece of parchment, roll dough to a scant 1/4 inch thick. Brush off excess flour. Slide dough and parchment onto baking sheets, and freeze for 15 minutes.
• Cut out desired shapes. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, and freeze for 15 minutes.
• Bake cookies for 6 minutes. Remove sheets from oven, and tap them firmly on counter to flatten cookies. Return to oven, rotating sheets, and bake until crisp but not darkened, 6 to 8 minutes more. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
• Spoon icing into a pastry bag fitted with a very small plain round tip (such as Ateco #0 or #1). Pipe designs on cookies. Let cookies stand at room temperature until set, at least 2 hours (preferably overnight).

NATASHA AND ATRINA'S GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift the flour, spices and baking powder in the bowl of an electric mixer. At low speed, add the sugar, bacon drippings, syrup and cream. Blend thoroughly and continue to mix for about five minutes.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface for about one minute. Divide the dough in four equal parts and wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Lightly butter 4 to 6 cookie sheets and set aside.
• Roll out each section of dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of an eighth-inch. Using varied cookie cutters, cut out the cookies and remove each shape carefully with a metal spatula and place them a half-inch apart on the buttered cookie sheets. Form the remaining dough into a small ball and roll out the dough again until most of it has been used. Decorate the cookies and bake for about four to five minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for one minute. Remove the cookies with a metal spatula to a clean surface covered with wax paper and allow to cool. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

SPARKLY GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or hand-held electric beaters, beat brown sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg, molasses and fresh ginger, and mix until well combined.
• Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.
• Divide dough in half and scrape onto two pieces of plastic wrap, wrapping each piece separately into a flat disk. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days.
• When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Use parchment paper or nonstick liners to line 3 baking sheets, or lightly grease them with nonstick cooking spray. (You may need to bake the cookies in batches.)
• On a clean, lightly floured work surface, roll one disk of dough 1/8-inch thick. Using cookie cutters, cut out all the dough. With a small metal spatula, place the gingerbread cut-outs onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Repeat with remaining dough. You can reroll the scraps once. Collect them from both pieces of dough, smush them together into a disk and chill before rerolling again.
• Bake small cookies for 8 to 12 minutes, and larger ones for 10 to 15 minutes, or until cookies are firm to the touch and their edges are slightly darker in color. Rotate cookie sheets halfway through for even baking.
• Let cookies cool on baking sheets until firm enough to lift, about 5 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
• To decorate, thin the royal icing with water until it's as thick as heavy cream (thinner than you'd use for piping). Divide it into small bowls (or a muffin tin), and use food coloring to tint it different colors. Use a brush to paint the cookies with icing, and, if you like, use toothpicks to apply more icing to make patterns. Sprinkle with colored sugar or other decorations, if you like, while the icing is still wet. Put the decorated cookies on baking sheets to set, then move them to tins or other airtight containers with parchment between the layers.

MOIRA HODGSON'S GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix together the ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda and salt and set aside.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the molasses and sugar. Beat in the spice mixture completely, then the water, then the egg.
• Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the butter mixture into the well. Stir about a quarter of the flour, the part closest to the center, into the molasses-butter mixture. Stir in half the remaining flour, then the rest. When all the flour has been incorporated, turn the dough out onto a board and knead until just smooth. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight or up to two weeks.
• When you are ready to bake your cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the baking sheets. Roll out some of the dough an eighth of an inch thick, keeping the rest well wrapped in plastic. Cut into shapes with a five-inch cookie cutter. Bake the cookies on their sheets for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, gently lift off the cookies with a spatula and cool them on a rack. Make the rest of the cookies the same way. Decorate the cooled gingerbread or leave plain.