I’m pretty sure that this is the first year I’ve ever made gingerbread cookies, and certainly the first year I’ve ever made these mini gingerbread cookies. I think it may be because growing up, we were a sugar cookie family rather than a gingerbread cookie family. I remember decorating sugar cookies when I was quite young and then taking over making sugar cookies in my early teens. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I ever even made gingerbread: for several years in a row, I made Heidi Swanson’s black sticky gingerbread recipe instead of Christmas cookies for our Christmas dinner.
So what started my gingerbread cookie baking marathon this year? It had everything to do with Food ‘n Flix and the December movie pick: Krampus. After all, I had to have a gingerbread man to set on fire for this week’s Friday Happy Hour post. Come back on Friday to see both the flaming gingerbread man, along with a flambe gingerbread cocktail. Can I just say - setting booze on fire - best thing ever. I digress. In order to get a gingerbread man, I had to figure out how to make gingerbread cookies. After some experimentation, I landed on this recipe. It’s not a great construction gingerbread recipes (as I learned the hard way after an attempt to make a rudimentary gingerbread structures), but it does make an absolutely delightful cookie.
All the gingerbread shenanigans were also a great way to spend the first snow day I’ve experienced since moving to the Portland area. My initial reaction last week was to scoff at the snow day without snow (which was how the morning began) and then later to realize that ice storms up here are no joke. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my car encased in ice before. I was glad to have these mini gingerbread cookies to enjoy with a cup of coffee in the afternoon. These have also made great treats for lunch throughout the week.
Ingredients
- Gingerbread Cookies
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons gingerbread spice mix (below)
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Combine all the spices for the gingerbread spice in a small jar. This makes sufficient gingerbread spice for several recipes. Set aside.
- Combine all the dry ingredients, from flour through the freshly grated ginger in a small bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla. Combine. Add the dry ingredients and mix. Knead the dough a bit in the bowl to incorporate all the dry ingredients and to get the gingerbread to a smooth texture.
- Separate the gingerbread dough into four smaller balls. Roll out one ball at a time to about 1/4 inch thick and cut out using your desired cookie cutters. For mini gingerbread cookies, use small cookie cutters. Place the gingerbread cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Cookies can be placed fairly close to one another without sticking.
- Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, checking after 10 minutes. Cookies are done when they are lightly browned on the bottom. Ice with your favorite icing. Enjoy!
- Makes anywhere between 36 - 48 cookies depending on the size of cookie cutter.
