Gingerbread Cookies

These are soft, chewy cookies and they require some wait time while the dough chills in the refrigerator. The dough can then be baked as round cookies or rolled out and cut into shapes with cookie cutters.

 

MAKES APPROXIMATELY 4 DOZEN COOKIES

 

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon salt

 

1 cup butter or margarine, at room temperature

1½ cups sugar

 

1 egg

2 tablespoons dark corn syrup

 

Raisins, optional

 

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Instructions: 

▪ Mix together in a bowl the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and set aside these dry ingredients.

 

▪ In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter or margarine on low until soft, then add the sugar and beat on medium until light and creamy.

 

▪ Add the egg and beat.

 

▪ Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar and mix it in well.

 

▪ Wrap the dough in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator at least two hours, or for as long as a day or two.

 

▪ When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or two.

 

▪ For round cookies, flour your hands and shape the dough into one-inch balls, place on the baking sheet and flatten them lightly with the bottom of a glass dipped in flour to prevent it from sticking.

 

▪ For cookie cutter shapes, dust a clean countertop and a rolling pin with some flour, then divide the dough into manageable size pieces. Roll the dough out to a thickness of ¼ inch and use cookie cutters to shape the cookies. Place them on the baking sheet. Gather the scraps, re-roll them, and cut out more cookies, repeating this until all the dough is used.

 

▪ If you want to use raisins, position them onto the cookies after they are on the baking sheet.

 

▪ The cookies will take 8 to 10 minutes to bake, but check them after 7 minutes. The edges will just barely start to brown when they are done.

 

▪ Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then use a spatula to transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooking. When they are completely cool, store them in an airtight container.