Gingerbread

I first made this cookies over ten years ago and I have made them every Christmas since. I usually create a sort of gingerbread UN, with gingerbread men from all around the world: a Scottish guy with a kilt, a Japanese woman wearing an elaborately decorated kimono, a French man with a striped shirt and a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

These are hands-down one of my favorite, and one of my most popular cookies. When my mom’s godson was smaller, we used to make these together and he’d always ask for them when he came to visit. One of my uncles always takes home three or four to eat with coffee. Because of all the molasses and spices, my college roommate used to call these the “bully of the cookie jar.” He meant that in the best of possible ways.

Gingerbread
Adapted from The Betty Crocker Cookbook

The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup cold water to be mixed in with the molasses. For some reason, when I started making these in New York, they felt a little dry so I switched to buttermilk (doesn’t buttermilk make everything better anyway?). If you don’t have buttermilk, use water, it’ll be just fine.

This is the recipe I used to make these.

2 tsps baking soda
3 tbsp cold water
6 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 cups dark molasses (one 12 oz. jar Grandma’s Robust Molasses)
1/2 cup buttermilk

Stir the baking soda into the water, set aside.

Sift together the flour, salt, and spices.

Mix together the butter, sugar and molasses until well combined. Stir in the buttermilk.

Mix the flour mixture into the molasses mixture. Stir in the baking soda and water.

Chill for a few hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Roll out dough very thick (1/2″) (dough is sticky so use plenty of flour.) Bake for 15-18 minutes. Cookies are done when touched lightly with a finger, no imprint remains.