When I was a child, my mom and I made gingerbread cookies every year in preparation for Christmas. Then our family of four would decorate them with royal icing, mini M&Ms, and sprinkles.This year I decided to bake both gingerbread and sugar cookies. (The sugar cookies didn’t turn out great, so I’ll try another batch next year. Does anyone have any suggestions?)
Mr. Handsome and I decorated a few batches, and I did another round of decorating with friends. Scroll down for pictures and tutorials.
Do you enjoy decorating holiday cookies? What types of cookies do you make, and how do you decorate them?
Old-Fashioned Soft Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup dark molasses 1-12 ounce jar
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2/3 cup water, room temperature
- 1/3 cup butter, soft
- 6-1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
Instructions
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Mix molasses, brown sugar, water, and butter until smooth.
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Sift remaining ingredients, and add to molasses mixture, using a fork to stir. (You might need to use your hands towards the end, as the dough becomes heavy)
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Cover dough tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours or more.
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Remove dough from refrigerator, and roll 1/4 inch thick onto wax paper or floured surface. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. (If your rolling pin and/or cookie cutters are sticking to the dough, lightly flour them.)
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Place cookies 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
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Bake at 350F for 8 minutes. Cookies should be soft to the touch when you remove them from the oven.
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Place cookies on cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before decorating.
Recipe Notes
The amount of cookies that this recipe makes varies greatly, depending on the size of the cookie cutters used. If small/medium cookie cutters are used (as shown in photo, which shows cookies sitting on a standard sized cookie sheet) recipe will make 4-6 dozen cookies. If large/x-large cookie cutters are used, recipe will make 2-3 dozen cookies.
Royal Icing
Mr. Handsome’s sassy snowmen…
A few days later, I gathered with several ladies from our Bible study to decorate more cookies. Everyone brought three dozen of their favorite type of cookie, as well as supplies for decorating. We had crushed candy canes, melted chocolate in squeeze containers, nuts, coconut flakes, and tons of sprinkles. I brought royal icing, and another gal brought cream cheese icing. It was a blast!
One of the ladies has a seven-year-old boy, and he also enjoyed taking part in our cookie decorating. He requested that I take a picture of his plate for my blog…
Do you follow me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/nashvillewife/)? Last week, I posted a time-lapse video of my cookie decorating. Check it out below:
