Gingerbread Cookies

Its the most wonderfullll timeee of the year!! To me that means family & loves ones, lots of shopping, and even more amounts of cooking a baking. I make Gingerbread cookies almost every year. Here's the recipe I use for classic gingerbread cookies and royal icing. Merry Christmas everyone!

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbs. ground ginger
• 4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 16 Tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 egg
• Decorating sugars and pastes as desired

Directions:

• Have all the ingredients at room temperature.
• Into a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium-high speed until fluffy and pale yellow, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the brown and granulated sugars and beat for 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and add the molasses, beating until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the egg and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
• Add the flour mixture in 4 additions, beating in each addition before adding more. Beat just until combined, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Using floured hands, form the dough into a smooth mound and divide into 4 equal portions. Shape each into a disk and wrap separately with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
• Preheat an oven to 400ºF. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Remove 1 dough disk at a time from the refrigerator and let stand for 10 minutes. Place the dough between 2 sheets of parchment or waxed paper and roll out to a thickness of 1/4 to 3/8 inch. 
• Press cookie cutters into dough to cut desired shape. Using an offset spatula, carefully transfer the cutouts to the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough. Gather up the scraps, reroll them and cut out additional cookies. For best results, do not reroll scraps more than once. Refrigerate the cookies until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Bake the cookies until lightly browned on the bottom, about 7 min.
• Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets, then decorate as desired and assemble (see tips below). Makes 4 or 5 of each type of cookie.

Royal Icing

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites, at room temperature
• 4 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• Pinch of salt
• A few drops of vanilla extract or fresh
   lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, confectioners' sugar, cream of tartar and salt on medium-low speed until blended. Add the vanilla or lemon juice, increase the speed to medium-high, and continue beating until stiff peaks form and the mixture is nearly triple in volume, 7 to 8 minutes. 
• Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover tightly with plastic wrap and store at room temperature until ready to use, up to 6 hours.
• Makes 5 to 6 cups.