(Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen “Gingerbread Boy and Girl Cookies”)

Marci Rainey came over in November of 2017 and taught my Relief Society Cooking Group how to make gingerbread houses. This is the recipe she used. She said: “The gingerbread house tradition is one my kids always remember.  Don’t forget the two great tips from my mother n law…. Roll out the dough on the upside down bottom part of the cookie sheet after you spray it and put a wet rag under the cookie sheet so it doesn’t move while you’re rolling the dough out on the sheet.

Yield: 18 to 24 cookies

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 stick butter or margarine, softened

2 large eggs

1/4 cup molasses

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Icing:

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

 

Using an electric mixer at low speed, cream the sugar and butter until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs and molasses and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and combine with a spoon or spatula. Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap in plastic wrap; place in the refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes, until pliable. Take about 1/2 cup of dough at a time and roll onto a floured board until about 1/8-inch thick.

Cut out with gingerbread boy and girl cookie cutters. You can re-roll the scraps. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies from the board to the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, until just beginning to brown at the edges. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

To make the icing, combine the confectioners’ sugar and milk. Divide the mixture into thirds; leave 1/3 white, and color 1/3 green and the final third red. Decorate piping eyes, mouths, buttons, and bow ties.