Christmas Cookies

Please be sure to mark your location on my Frappr map.

This weekend I had planned on making a gingerbread house. I didn’t quite make it. The Christmas parade lasted over two hours. Then, we had several errands to run. I ran out of energyWe ran out of time, so we didn’t end up with a real tree, but my $50 investment I made six years ago in an artificial tree sure has paid off well. It really is a very nice artificial tree. I’ll just have to get lots of candles or something to make it smell piney and Christmas-y in my house.

By the time I got around to dinner and baking, I was too pooped to make the gingerbread forms for the house. So, I just made plain ‘ol Gingerbread instead. I hadn’t ever tried the recipe before, but it turned out SO good. I’m in a baking mood! It started with Thanksgiving, and this time of year makes me want to get in the kitchen and cook things that smell good. Plus, we’re getting our first real cold-snap, and of course that means keeping the house warm with the oven. Here are my Gingerbread, Gingersnaps, and Snickerdoodles recipes. Enjoy!

Gingerbread

1-1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 c. dark unsulfured molasses
1 Tbsp. ginger
2/3 c. buttermilk
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325F. Butter 8-inch square baking pan with 2-inch-high sides. Lightly flour pan; tap out excess. Sift first 6 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, cream butter with brown sugar in another medium bowl until light. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in molasses and ginger. Mix in half of dry ingredients. Mix in buttermilk. Add remaining dry ingredients and stir batter until just combined.

Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cake slightly in pan on rack. Cut gingerbread into squares. Sift powdered sugar over. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Gingersnaps

2 c. sifted flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground ginger
3 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. shortening
1/4 c. butter
1 c. granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c. light molasses
Granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift flour with salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and baking soda. Cream shortening and butter until fluffy, gradually adding 1 c. sugar. Blend in egg, molasses, and then flour mixture. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Bake 8-10 minutes. Let cool 1 minute. Remove from baking sheet and cool.

Makes ~4 dozen cookies

Snickerdoodles

1-1/2 c. sugar
1 c. shortening
2 eggs
2-3/4 c. flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375F. Mix 1-1/2 c. sugar, shortening and eggs. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, and soda. Chill dough. Roll dough into balls. Combine 2 Tbsp. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Roll balls in mixture. Bake 8-10 minutes.