Raeanne's Gingerbread
- Course: Dessert
- Features: Holiday (Christmas)
Summary:
This cookie has more depth of flavor and a firmer texture than a standard gingerbread man.
STORE: In an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Baked cookies can be frozen, undecorated, in a heavy-duty resealable plastic food storage freezer bag for up to 4 months. The dough can be refrigerated overnight.
Makes about fifty 4-inch gingerbread men or 10 sets of 3 gingerbread ornaments
Ingredients:
For the dough- 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup dark molasses
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 5 cups flour (preferably unbleached), plus more for dusting
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 to 7 tablespoons water
Directions:
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer; beat on medium speed until well combined. Add the egg, molasses and cider vinegar.
Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a separate bowl. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar. The dough will be fairly firm.
Divide the dough into fourths, dust it lightly with flour and wrap each piece in plastic wrap. Flatten the dough slightly and chill it for at least 3 hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Stack 2 rimmed baking sheets together and line the top sheet with parchment paper.
Let the dough warm up slightly before rolling it out, 1 piece at a time. Lightly flour a work surface or roll the dough between 2 pieces of wax paper or parchment paper to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Use a cookie cutter to cut out gingerbread shapes; space them at least 1 inch apart on the lined baking sheet. Reroll scraps as necessary. (If the cookies are to be made as ornaments, use a straw or large pastry tip to make a hole near the top of each unbaked cookie.) For best results, refrigerate, loosely covered, for 30 minutes; this will help maintain the cookies' shape while they bake.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until no imprint remains when they are touched lightly with a fingertip. (If holes were made in the cookies, they will have closed up a bit. Use a straw to reshape or widen the holes while the cookies are still warm.) Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining dough; bake 1 batch at a time.
For the icing (outline and filling consistencies): Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held mixer. Add the vanilla extract and about 4 tablespoons of the water. Turn on the mixer to its lowest speed; keep watching and beat for about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary and adding 1 tablespoon of water to maintain a thick, glossy and smooth consistency (for outline icing). Cover the bowl with a damp towel until ready to use.
Transfer some of the icing to a separate container. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water as needed to thin to the consistency needed for filling, or flooding, inside the piped outlines.
Distribute the outline and fill icings among smaller containers and use paste coloring to create colored icings as desired. Allow 10 minutes for the color to saturate. Transfer the outline icing to piping bags with a No. 1 tip or to resealable plastic food storage bags with the tip of a bottom corner snipped off. Transfer the fill icing to small (4-inch squirt) bottles. Practice on a sheet of wax paper before decorating the cookies. Let the decorated cookies dry thoroughly before storing.
Recipe Source:
Adapted from a Gourmet magazine recipe by Raeanne Hytone of Raebakes.com.
E-mail the Food Section with recipe questions.
(Julia Ewan)
