Gingerbread Straws Food

GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a medium bowl; set aside.
• Mix butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes; mix in spices and salt. Mix in egg and molasses, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Add flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined. Divide dough in half; pat into two disks. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.
• To make puzzles, cut rolled dough into six rectangles, each 6 by 9 inches (reroll scraps once). Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; refrigerate until firm, 20 to 30 minutes. Bake until cookies are set and edges are just starting to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. While cookies are hot, use a pizza cutter or paring knife to cut out desired puzzle shapes. Carefully lift edges of parchment to keep puzzle pieces together; transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely.
• Fit a pastry bag with a 5/16-inch plain round tip (such as Ateco #3); fill with 1/2 cup untinted royal icing. Tie end with a rubber band; to prevent icing from drying out, stand bag, tip down, in a glass with a damp paper towel in the bottom. Tint remaining icing as desired; fill another pastry bag the same way.
• Outline each puzzle piece with tinted icing; fill outlined area with more icing, smoothing with an offset spatula to make a thin layer. Let dry completely, about 1 hour. Keeping pieces together, use untinted icing to outline the shape of a tree (design should overlap all pieces); decorate area inside outline as desired. One at a time, lift each piece; sprinkle with sanding sugar, tapping off any excess. Let dry 1 hour; package in boxes, or store in an airtight container up to 1 week.
• To make reindeer, use a 4 3/4-inch gingerbread-man cutter to make cookies (scraps can be rerolled once). For gift tags, cut with letter-shaped cookie cutters, and poke a hole with a straw. Transfer to baking sheets, and refrigerate until firm, 20 to 30 minutes. Bake until cookies are firm but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
• Melt semisweet chips in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; let cool slightly, and transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 7/16-inch plain round tip (such as Ateco #5). Pipe face and antlers with chocolate; sprinkle antlers with sanding sugar, tapping off any excess. Use white chocolate chips for eyes; pipe melted chocolate onto chips for pupils. Use red candy-coated chocolates for noses. Cut gumdrops lengthwise into 6 equal pieces; place one piece on each ear.

GUILT-FREE GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the lower third of oven. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with waxed paper, then spray the paper. Dust the entire pan with flour and shake out the excess.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, turbinado sugar, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together molasses, eggs, oil, and buttermilk.
• Dissolve baking soda in the cup of boiling water. Fold the baking soda and molasses mixtures into dry ingredients until combined. (Do not overmix.) Fold in the minced ginger.
• Scrape batter into the prepared baking pan; bake until cake is set around edges and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.

GINGERBREAD PEOPLE

Steps:

• Combine first 4 ingredients. Beat all remaining ingredients except powdered sugar and water in large bowl with mixer until blended. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing well after each addition. Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness; cut into gingerbread shapes with 4-inch cookie cutter, rerolling trimmings as necessary. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray.
• Bake 10 to 12 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 3 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
• Mix powdered sugar and water until blended. Use to decorate cookies as desired.

FAVORITE OLD FASHIONED GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.
• In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.