Iced Ginger Cookies Food

ICED GINGER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat® baking mat.
• Combine sugar, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl and mix well. Add molasses, melted butter, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract and mix well. Add flour, stirring constantly, 1 cup at a time until just combined. Add up to 1/4 cup of additional flour if dough is too sticky.
• Place spoonfuls of dough 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten the dough with floured fingertips to about 1/4-inch thickness.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely before frosting, at least 30 minutes.
• Beat cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter together in a bowl using an electric mixer until well blended. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract. Beat frosting until creamy.
• Combine caramels and half-and-half in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until caramels are completely melted and the sauce is blended, about 10 minutes.
• Frost cooled cookies with the frosting, drizzle with the caramel sauce, and sprinkle with sea salt.

ICED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.
• Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat until just incorporated. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, lightly dust the dough with flour and roll out between 2 pieces of parchment paper until about 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 15 minutes. Cut out shapes using 2-to-4-inch cookie cutters and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Gather the scraps and refrigerate until firm; reroll once to cut out more cookies. Refrigerate the cutouts until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake the cookies, switching the position of the pans halfway through, until just golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the icing: Sift the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder into a large bowl. Beat in 6 tablespoons water with a mixer on medium speed until soft, glossy peaks form. Spread on the cookies and decorate with nonpareils. Let set, about 1 hour.

ICED HEART COOKIES

Steps:

• Cookies: In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic and freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Remove 1 disk of dough; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting with flour as needed. Cut shapes with 2 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets (if dough gets too soft, refrigerate 10 minutes). Reroll scraps and cut more shapes. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.
• Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, about 12 minutes. (If bubbles form, tap baking sheet firmly against oven rack a few times during baking.) Let cool completely on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container up to 1 week.
• Royal Icing: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine confectioners' sugar and egg white on low speed. Add a scant 1/4 cup water, then increase speed to medium-high and mix until icing holds a ribbon-like trail on surface for 3 seconds when you raise paddle, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to low and mix 1 minute more to eliminate air bubbles. Divide icing and add food color, a drop at a time, until desired color is reached to one half. Use immediately, or store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 3 days. Stir well before using.
• Decorating: Pour white icing into a bowl, hold a cookie face down, and gently dip it in, letting excess drip off and tapping gently to remove bubbles. Arrange iced cookies end to end. Let dry completely, then brush across each cookie diagonally with pink "paint." For gold specks, dot on edible luster dust mixed with a bit of lemon or other clear extract.

ICED MOLASSES COOKIES

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together butter and sugar, then beat in egg. Add molasses, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Gradually add in the flour. Drop table-spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet, and bake 7-9 minutes.
• icing: Stir sugar and milk together until smooth, then add corn syrup and vanilla. If mixture is too thick, add more corn syrup until it is easily spreadable, but not too thin.
• Let cookies cool then frost.

ICED GINGER SHORTCAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a 20cm square baking tray. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Sift in the flour and ginger, then mix together with a knife. Using lightly floured hands, bring the mixture together to form a dough, then spread it into the greased baking tray. Bake for 30 mins until golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
• For the icing, melt the butter and syrup in a pan. Remove from the heat, sift in the icing sugar and ginger, then mix until smooth and glossy. Cool until almost cold and beat well again. Spread the icing over the shortcake using a palette knife, decorate with chopped crystallised ginger and serve cut into slices.

ICED OATMEAL COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a small bowl until combined.
• Beat the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the maple syrup, vanilla, egg and 1 tablespoon warm water and beat on high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes more. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to combine completely. Add the oats and beat on low speed until combined. Fold in the raisins until evenly distributed. Let sit, uncovered, at room temperature for 1 hour to let the oats hydrate.
• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Using a 1 1/2-ounce scoop (about 3 tablespoons), arrange 9 scoops of cookie dough on the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each.
• Bake until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Let the baking sheet cool slightly, then continue baking the remaining cookie dough.
• Whisk together the confectioners' sugar, milk (2 tablespoons for a thicker glaze, 3 tablespoons for a thinner glaze) and a large pinch of salt in a small bowl until smooth and creamy.
• Lightly dip the top third of each cooled cookie in the glaze. Transfer the cookies glaze-side up to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet to dry completely. Your cookies should look like snow-capped mountains with bits of unglazed cookie showing through.
• The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

INCREDIBLY CRISP GINGERSNAPS

Steps:

• Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl; stir well to mix. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together on medium speed the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until very light, fluffy and whitened. Add the egg and continue beating until smooth. Lower speed and beat in half the dry ingredients, then the molasses. Stop the mixer and scrape down bowl and beater. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients. Remove bowl from mixer and use a large rubber spatula to finish mixing the dough. Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop out 1-inch diameter pieces of dough. Roll into balls between the palms of your the hands, then roll in the sugar. Place the balls of dough on the prepared pans leaving about 3 inches all around each, to allow for spreading. Bake the cookies for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until they have spread, the surface has crackled, and they are firm to the touch. Slide the papers from the pans to racks. Store the cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or waxed paper in a tin or platic container witha tight-fitting cover.