The ultimate gingerbread cookies
Christmas baking is a fabulous part of the festive fun and everyone loves a gingerbread cookie at Christmas. This recipe features a lovely firm dough that makes these festive cookies easy to work with. Baking gingerbread cookies is a great way to get the kids involved in the kitchen and they will love decorating them. Get the kids to make and decorate some for their friends or teachers as they make an ideal end-of-year gift. For crisp cookies roll the dough out very thin; for softer cookies go with a thicker dough.
How long will it take?
2.5 hours
What’s the serving size?
Makes 24 x 10cm tall cookies
What do I need?
- 3 cups plain flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup molasses
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
How do I make it?
- Mix first 7 ingredients together in a small bowl until well blended.
- In a large bowl beat butter, brown sugar and egg.
- Add molasses and vanilla and continue to mix until well combined.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic. Let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
- Preheat oven to 190C. Line baking trays with baking paper.
- Roll one portion of the dough out on a lightly floured surface to desired thickness.
- Cut out cookies with cookie cutters and place on baking tray 4 centimetres apart.
- Cook one tray at a time for 7-10 minutes (longer cooking time will produce crisper cookies).
- Remove from the oven and allow them to stand until they are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
- When completely cooled decorate the cookies.
Note: the dough will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
