Spice Up Your Holiday Season with These Sweet Gingerbread Cookie Treats

Sugar and spice and everything nice is what we think about when we imagine holiday treats during the Christmas season! Gingerbread cookies are an absolute classic during yuletide occasions and they happen to make people feel very holly and jolly with their forever merry cheer.

Instead of leaving the cookie-making to the grocery store or another family member, break out those mixing bowls and all of the warm winter spices to whip up a delicious batch of these little cookie guys that everyone loves when the holidays come knocking. Maybe even Santa will put them on his cookie wishlist come Christmas Eve night with a big glass of milk to dip!

Here’s a simple recipe to follow in order to make your own homemade gingerbread cookies with a dash of love thrown into the mix and watch them disappear from the Christmas platter in seconds after they come out fresh from the oven.

Spiced Gingerbread Cookies

Prep time: 2-2 ½ hours

Cook time: 8-10 minutes

Ingredients (in cooking order):

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. ginger
• 1 ¾ tsp. cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. cloves
• 6 tbsp. butter, unsalted
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup molasses
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Stir together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves) until they are evenly mixed in a small bowl.
2. Beat butter, brown sugar and egg together using an electric beater to completely blend the mixture together in a larger bowl. Add molasses and vanilla to the mix accordingly.
3. Continue to beat the thick mixture while adding the dry ingredients slowly into the bowl.
4. Separate the dough into two equal halves and wrap in plastic. Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for two hours in order to rest.
5. When the dough is ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375˚F. Prepare baking sheets by laying down parchment paper or greasing the sheet with butter or oil.
6. Sprinkle flour onto a flat board and place dough onto board for rolling purposes. Lightly dust the dough and rolling pin with flour and begin to flatten until the sheet of dough is about ¼ of an inch.
7. Use a gingerbread man (or any additional shapes) cookie cutter to cut out cookies and place them on the sheet, far enough apart so they won’t touch when they bake.
8. Bake for anywhere between 7-10 minutes. We suggest less time for softer cookies or more time for the perfect crunch. Allow the cookies to cool after taking them out of the oven. After letting the cookies sit for a couple minutes, you may proceed to decorate in any way you would so like!
9. Enjoy the decorating and eating with all of your friends and family!