Recipe of the Day – Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread generally refers to soft cakes that are flavored with ginger and sweetened with honey and molasses.  It is closely related to ginger cookies and ginger nuts which also use the spiciness of the ginger as the main flavored.  Gingerbread cookies are also related to the French spice bread pain d’epices and the German Lebkuchen.  Its roots is typically traced to the region shared between Eastern Europe and the Middle East.  Gingerbread is believed to be brought to the west by the Armenian monk Gregory of Nicopolis who moved to France.  Gingerbread would eventually spread throughout Europe particularly in Scandinavia and in the UK.

Gingerbread cookies are the crunchier version of the typical gingerbread.  These cookies are the favorite components in building the popular gingerbread house and of course, the Gingerbread Man.

Ingredients

6 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp . baking powder

1 tbsp. ground ginger

1 tbsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup shortening, melted and cooled slightly

1 cup molasses

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Sift the flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon powder.

Mix the shortening, molasses, brown sugar, water, egg and vanilla in a bowl.  Stir in the sifted dry ingredients until they are completely mixed.

Take out the dough and then divide into three.  Roll each dough until they are about 1 ½ inch thick.  Wrap each flattened dough in plastic wrap and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.  Take out one dough and roll out on a floured board until it is about ¼ inch thick.  Cut the dough using cookie cutters.

Put the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet, make sure they are about an inch from each other. Bake for 10-12 minutes.  After baking, cool the cookies on a wire rack.  Decorate with your favorite icing.