Best Gingerbread Cutout Cookies Food

GINGERBREAD COOKIE CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Melt the shortening and butter together in a medium saucepan. Let cool.
• Sift the flour, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, salt and clove into a large bowl. Mix the melted butter into the flour mixture with an electric mixer on medium-low until sandy. Add the corn syrup and vanilla, and mix until evenly incorporated, but still crumbly in texture. Press the dough together by hand and divide into 4 equal portions. Press into disks about 1/2-inch thick. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
• Dust the dough and a work surface with flour. Roll 1 piece of the dough out about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Transfer cut-outs to 2 parchment-lined baking sheets leaving about 2-inches in between each. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Gather up the scraps, re-roll and cut out.
• Position oven racks to the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake the gingerbread until a rich tawny brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired with the Royal Icing. Store at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 5 days. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl. Mix slowly with an electric mixer on medium-low until stiff enough to form peaks. The icing should be pure white and thick, but not fluffy and bubbly. If the frosting is over beaten, it will get aerated which makes it harder to work with. If this happens, let the frosting sit to settle, and then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth out the frosting.
• Add up to 1 tablespoon food coloring and mix with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform. (Adding too much color reduces the sheen of the frosting and can break down the consistency of the frosting over a couple of days.) Store the icing, covered, with plastic wrap on the surface.

THE BEST GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice and cloves in a large bowl.
• Mix the butter, shortening, brown sugar and molasses in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat in the egg. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two additions. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic and pat to 1/2-inch thick. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of dough to 1/4-inch thick, dusting with flour if needed. Cut into 3- to 5-inch cookies with a gingerbread man cutter or desired shape. Brush off the excess flour and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
• Bake the cookies in batches until they are golden around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
• For the royal icing: Whisk the confectioners' sugar with the meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat in 6 tablespoons of water until well combined and you have stiff glossy peaks, adding 1 tablespoon more water at a time to reach a smooth pipeable consistency. Mix in food coloring as desired. Fill pastry bags fitted with tips. Decorate the gingerbread cookies with the icing.

GINGERBREAD CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until easy to handle, about 4 hours or overnight., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. , Bake until edges are firm, 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Tint some of the frosting red and some green; leave remaining frosting plain. Decorate cookies.

THE MOST WONDERFUL GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well blended.
• In a large bowl (KitchenAid's great for this) beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended.
• Add molasses, vanilla, and lemon zest and continue to mix until well blended.
• Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.
• Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 deg. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
• (Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. Return to room temp before using.) Preheat oven to 375°.
• Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin.
• Roll dough to a scant 1/4-inch thick.
• Use additional flour to avoid sticking.
• Cut out cookies with desired cutter-- the ginger bread man is our favorite of course.
• Space cookies 1 1/2-inches apart.
• Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies-- very good!).
• Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
• After cookies are cool you may decorate them any way you like.
• I usually brush them with a powdered sugar glaze when I am in a hurry, but they look wonderful decorated with Royal icing.

BASIC GINGERBREAD CUT-OUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat the butter, brown sugar and molasses together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, beating well after each addition.
• In a separate bowl, sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this to the butter mixture and stir until blended. Shape the dough into 2 disks, wrap and chill for about an hour up to 2 days (the dough will still be soft, even once chilled).
• Preheat the oven to 350 F and line 2-3 baking trays with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the first disk of dough until just over 1/8-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter of your choosing to cut out cookie shapes and lift then carefully to the prepared trays, leaving about ½-inch between them. Continue with the second piece of dough - any scraps can be stored chilled and then re-rolled until it has all been used.
• Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes until you see them brown a little just around the edges. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the tray before removing to cool completely.
• The cookies will keep for up to 10 days in an airtight container.

GINGERBREAD CUT-OUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream shortening (or butter) and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in molasses and grated ginger until evenly blended.
• In a separate bowl, combine remaining dry ingredients and add to molasses mixture, stirring just until dough comes together. Shape dough into 2 discs and chill for at least 2 hours before rolling.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 disc to just over 1/8-inch thick. Cut out desired shapes and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (If using cookies as decoration, put a small hole where a string will go to tie it). Bake for 6 to 8 minutes until edges are firm to the touch. Cool completely before decorating.
• Stir together all ingredients to blend, then beat with electric beaters on high speed until mixture is stiff, about 7 minutes. Tint portions of icing with food colouring, as desired.
• To store, keep icing tightly covered, with plastic wrap resting directly on surface of icing. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

GINGERBREAD CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat the brown sugar, molasses, melted butter and egg yolks in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat, gradually increasing the speed to medium high, until the dough comes together, about 3 minutes.
• Roll out the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper coated with cooking spray until 1/8 inch thick. Freeze until firm, 30 minutes.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Cut out cookies using 2-inch cutters; arrange 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Gather the scraps and chill until firm, then reroll once to cut out more cookies. Refrigerate the cutouts until firm, 20 minutes.
• Bake the cookies, switching the pans halfway through, until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
• Make the icing: Beat the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3 to 4 tablespoons water in a bowl with a mixer on high speed until smooth and thick. Transfer to a resealable bag and snip a small corner. Pipe onto the cookies and sprinkle with nonpareils. Let set 30 minutes.

BEST GINGERBREAD CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well blended. Set aside.
• In a large bowl (KitchenAid's great for this) beat butter, shortening, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended.
• Add molasses & vanilla and continue to mix until well blended.
• Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.
• Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and chill for 1 hour. Then let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
• Place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin. Roll dough to a scant 1/4-inch thick. Use additional flour to avoid sticking.
• Cut out cookies with desired cutter. Space cookies 1 1/2-inches apart. We always use the classic gingerbread man & woman, but it's fun to throw in the occasional dinosaur or bunny!
• Bake 1 sheet at a time for 8-9 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the hot tray for another 5 minutes after you take them out of the oven.
• Transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Fully cool before frosting!
• Whisk icing ingredients together. Transfer to an icing bag and pipe onto cookies, using additional decorations like holiday M&M's, chocolate chips, red hots, etc. Have fun with it!

CLASSIC GINGERBREAD CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the molasses and eggs. Combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour, baking soda, salt, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger; beat into the molasses mixture. Gradually stir in the remaining flour by hand to form a stiff dough.
• Divide dough into 2 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• 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.
• In a medium bowl, sift together confectioners' sugar and cream of tartar. Blend in egg whites. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat for about 5 minutes, or until mixture is thick and stiff. Keep covered with a moist cloth until ready to frost cookies.

BEST GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine first 3 ingredients in bowl.
• Cream margarine, add sugar then eggs one at a time.
• Now add the molasses and vinegar.
• Mix in the flour.
• Roll out and use cookie cutters.
• Bake 10-12 minutes at 350°F.
• After they are baked you can decorate the way you like.

MOLASSES CUT-OUT COOKIES FOR GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• Mix sugar and shortening together until light and fluffy.
• Add molasses and beat until it is incorporated Add hot water and stir well.
• Sift dry ingredients into mixture a cup at a time and stir until mixed well Chill for at least 2 hours.
• Roll out a small amount, cut out a cookie round and test by cooking in a preheated 375F oven.
• If cookies are spreading out too much, add and knead in a bit more flour.
• Roll out dough a quarter at a time, keeping the rest chilled.
• This makes handling the dough easier.
• Roll out (using an equal mixture of confectioners sugar and flour) and cut into gingerbread men shapes.
• Bake in a preheated 375F oven for about 12 minutes.

GINGERBREAD COOKIE CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half; shape each into a disk. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate, covered, until firm enough to roll, 4 hours or overnight., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut 60 gingerbread men using a floured 3-1/2-in. cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. If desired, cut sixty 1-1/4-in. triangles for hats; attach to gingerbread cutouts, pressing edges to seal. If desired, cut sixty 1/4-in. circles; attach to hats for pompoms. , Bake cookies until edges are firm, 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely., Tint some of the frosting red; use red frosting for hats and buttons. Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry bag or heavy-duty resealable plastic bag; insert #3 round pastry tip. Fill bag with white frosting; pipe faces and trim on hands and feet. Using a #16 star pastry tip, pipe decorations on hats.