Friday, November 7, 2008

Gingerbread Cookies



The holidays are coming and that means gingerbread.

This weekend I'm having my Creative Memories Holiday Open House and I like to serve gingerbread snowflakes and Hot Cider, or Wassail. I'll post the cider recipe tomorrow, but today I'm all about the gingerbread.


Gingerbread is really very easy to make. Well at least if you have a standing mixer. If you don't, you'll need a gorilla, or at the very least some friends to help combine the ingredients for this very dense dough.

I made gingerbread for years before I got my Kitchen Aid mixer, and I have to tell you, I will never go back. I remember clearly how tired my arms got, and how I would beg Peanut Head to take a shift for me. It's that dense.


Other than the dense dough, it's a lot like making sugar cookies. You can decorate them any way you like.

I used to spend days, literally, carefully decorating gingerbread men and women. My favorite outfit, while living in California anyway, were little beach shorts for the boy gingerbread men and hot little bikini numbers for the girls.

Throughout my years of making gingerbread people, I learned early on to supervise Peanut Head. Otherwise I would end up with anatomically exaggerated gingerbread people. He's always getting into trouble like that.


These days I take the easy way out and just make snowflakes. The biggest reason is that they don't take three days to decorate. I just pipe a little white, canned, frosting onto them and sprinkle them with powdered sugar.


Surprisingly, people still eat them. I think you might like them too.

And you know I wouldn't forget your recipe card. Enjoy!

12 comments:

  1. Gosh Jill everything you decorate or make is GORGEOUS!!! Those are absolutely amazing looking gingerbread cookies!!!

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  2. Those look much more impressive than gingerbread people. They're beautiful!

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  3. Nice job! They look great!

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  4. I might have to start my 6 weeks of holiday baking with these. They look so yummy and I bet they freeze well.

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  5. Those look so yummy...can I come to your house?!?!?!?!?! Man, I am now officially addicted to your blog. :)

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  6. Those look fantastic!!! I am adding this to our annual Cookie Day list!!

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  7. OMG! They are sooo pretty! I wish I had a stand mixer....maybe I'll get one as a wedding gift one day.

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  8. oh my word, i am so going to make those. they look delicious!

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  9. Jill! Those are too cute! I like to try a new cookie every year to add to my usuals and this just may be the one. I've always wanted to do gingerbread people but the thought of decorating all of them seemed daunting. Your snowflakes are the perfect answer!

    BTW, thanks for complimenting my new short "Mom Do." I'm loving it!

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  10. The Midge and I just made these to freeze for our party next month. They are DELICIOUS! Thank you for sharing the recipe.

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  11. Those are gorgeous cookies! Way better than the people kind. I am now going to be on the lookout for a snowflake cookie cutter. thanks for the recipe, too!

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  12. Beautiful cookies. I love to hang the decorated cookies on the tree. 7 cups of flour! Why is gingerbread always made in mass quantities?

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