Saturday, December 18, 2010

Eileen's Spicy Gingerbread Men

We love the idea of making wonderful, traditional holiday treats, but we are not always the best at doing them. This is a recipe we found when we needed to make gingerbread men for one of Kate's activities. They were surprisingly simple and very flavorful. --Mark

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg yolk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Instructions

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.

Notes:

*Be generous with spices, almost double the cloves *Chill a long time and you won't need extra flour

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