Gingerbread Cookies

Posted by -colleen

I am a BIG fan of gingerbread cookies but I have never actually made them. My Christmas cut-outs are the fluffy, soft kind which I highly prefer to the crispier versions so that was my mission when looking for a good gingerbread recipe. The title of this cookie seemed to fit the bill so this is the recipe I tried:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/big-soft-ginger-cookies/detail.aspx

	Ingredients: 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup margarine, softened 1 cup white sugar 1 egg 1 tablespoon water 1/4 cup molasses 2 tablespoons white sugar Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside. 2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly. 3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
	Modifications? No-it's the holidays and this is not the time for my weird, calorie-cutting experiments. The only thing I left out was rolling the prepared dough in sugar. This wasn't because I didn't want them to be too sweet. I did because I wanted to frost my baked cookies in cream cheese frosting. Oh yeah. These cookies are awesome. Frosting or not, these are hands-down THE BEST gingerbread cookies EVER! I will be quite surprised if anyone else gets them in my holiday cookie tins.

Thankfully, I also own appropriate gingerbread man cooking-baking attire (thank you Target circa 2008):