Moira Hodgsons Gingerbread Cookies Food

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.

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.

NATASHA AND ATRINA'S GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift the flour, spices and baking powder in the bowl of an electric mixer. At low speed, add the sugar, bacon drippings, syrup and cream. Blend thoroughly and continue to mix for about five minutes.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface for about one minute. Divide the dough in four equal parts and wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Lightly butter 4 to 6 cookie sheets and set aside.
• Roll out each section of dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of an eighth-inch. Using varied cookie cutters, cut out the cookies and remove each shape carefully with a metal spatula and place them a half-inch apart on the buttered cookie sheets. Form the remaining dough into a small ball and roll out the dough again until most of it has been used. Decorate the cookies and bake for about four to five minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for one minute. Remove the cookies with a metal spatula to a clean surface covered with wax paper and allow to cool. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg, and whisk together. Set aside for a minute.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Drizzle in the molasses, mixing well and scraping the bowl halfway through if necessary. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the maple extract and mix well. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating until just combined after each addition. The dough will be pretty dense and slightly dry to the touch -- that's the way you want it! Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
• Roll the dough out 1/3 inch thick (rolling between two sheets of plastic wrap will keep the rolling pin from sticking). Cut using any cutters you like, and transfer onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are baked through but still soft, 16 to 18 minutes.

MOIRA HODGSON'S GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix together the ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda and salt and set aside.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the molasses and sugar. Beat in the spice mixture completely, then the water, then the egg.
• Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the butter mixture into the well. Stir about a quarter of the flour, the part closest to the center, into the molasses-butter mixture. Stir in half the remaining flour, then the rest. When all the flour has been incorporated, turn the dough out onto a board and knead until just smooth. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight or up to two weeks.
• When you are ready to bake your cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the baking sheets. Roll out some of the dough an eighth of an inch thick, keeping the rest well wrapped in plastic. Cut into shapes with a five-inch cookie cutter. Bake the cookies on their sheets for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, gently lift off the cookies with a spatula and cool them on a rack. Make the rest of the cookies the same way. Decorate the cooled gingerbread or leave plain.

JIMMY SCHMIDT'S GINGER PUREE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to simmer over high heat and cook until tender, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer to a food processor and puree until smooth. Strain the contents and reserve in the refrigerator for up to one month.

GINGER GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Position an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Liberally grease a 5- by 9-inch loaf pan.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine all the dry ingredients, including the sugars and spices, and mix on low speed to blend evenly. Add the butter and mix until blended. Add the fresh ginger, buttermilk, molasses, eggs and vanilla and mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Fold in the crystallized ginger.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, smooth the top, and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes, or until lightly browned and a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. You can also bake this in an 8- by 8-inch square pan. Simply reduce the baking time to 25 to 30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Unmold onto a wire rack, and let cool slightly or completely. Cut into slices and serve warm or at room temperature.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat together the butter, treacle, brown sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, then beat through all of the remaining dry ingredients apart from the caster sugar. Chill the mixture in the fridge for 1 hr.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Roll the mixture into 20 even-sized balls (weighing for accuracy, if you like). Tip the caster sugar onto a small plate, then add each ball and roll around to coat. Space each ball out on the baking sheets. Bake for 9-10 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

ENGLISH GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 10-inch by 8-inch by 2 1/2-inch square cake tin and line it with grease-proof paper on the bottom and sides. Brush with one to two tablespoons melted margarine.
• Combine the remaining margarine in a small saucepan with the molasses and corn syrup and heat gently until melted. Remove from heat. Sift the bicarbonate of soda, plain and whole wheat flours (returning the whole wheat "flakes" left in the seive) into a large bowl.
• If using a food processor, put half the flour with the eggs, sugar, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger into the bowl fitted with the steel blade. Add the margarine-molasses mixture and process until smooth. Add the remaining flour (the bowl will be quite full) and process, adding a little milk if necessary to make a smooth mixture of dropping consistency. If working by hand, beat the eggs and add them one by one to the margarine mixture. Add to the flour with the sugar and spices and blend until smooth.
• Add the crystallized ginger and raisins to the mixture and turn it into the prepared tin. Bake in the center of the oven for one-and-a-half to two hours or until a thin skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. The gingerbread should have begun to shrink away from the sides of the tin and the center should be springy to the touch.
• Remove the gingerbread from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Brush the top liberally with molasses and sprinkle with chopped ginger, pressing the pieces into the surface. Allow to cool and remove from the baking tin. At this point the gingerbread can be cut into four loaves and stored separately in airtight cake tins. It keeps for several weeks in a cake tin but it may also be frozen.

HAZELNUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place the hazelnuts in a food processor and grind coarsely. Reserve 1/4 cup of the hazelnuts. Grind the remaining nuts fine and add the oil. Blend the mixture thoroughly into a hazelnut butter. Set aside.
• Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy (this can be done in the washed food processor or with an electric mixer in a bowl). Beat in the hazelnut butter, the egg and the vanilla. Mix thoroughly.
• Sift the flour and add with the baking soda and the salt. Mix thoroughly and add the reserved hazelnuts. Using a teaspoon, form the dough into balls and arrange them 2 inches apart on baking sheets that have been greased or lined with parchment paper. Using the prongs of a fork that have been dipped into flour to prevent sticking, flatten the balls into 1 1/2 inch rounds (Tip: If you want a clearly visible criss-cross design on the cookies, chill dough for 30 minutes before doing so).
• Bake in the middle of the oven for 8-to-9 minutes or until the cookies are golden. Cool on racks. The cookies will keep for about a week in a sealed jar.