Shelbs Christmas Gingerbread Cookies Recipes

SHELB'S CHRISTMAS GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together flour, spices, and baking soda; set aside.
• In another bowl combine melted margarine and brown sugar together until well combined. Add milk, molasses, vanilla and lemon juice. Add flour mixture. Mix well.
• Let chill in fridge for about an hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Take cookie dough out of fridge, roll and shape into various shapes(gingerbread men, xmas trees, hearts, what ever tickles your fancy!) and decorate with sprinkles or chocolate chips for eyes, mouth, and buttons if desired.(you can wait until afterwards to decorate with icing too!).
• Tranfer cookie shapes to ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.
• Eat right hot of the oven or transfer to wire racks to cool.

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix first bowl ingredients together until it becomes a creamy brown batter.
• Sift second bowl ingredients; add to the wet batter a little at a time.
• Mix together until it becomes a crumby dough.
• Make the dough into a ball and chill for an hour.
• When ready, cover the dough in flour and place on a heavy floured surface.
• Knead dough with the palms of your hand and roll it out.
• Cut into desired shapes.
• Cook for 10-15 minute until golden brown.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat margarine and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until mostly incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, another 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolk, then molasses.
• Whisk sifted flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg in a separate bowl until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture to the molasses mixture, beating until well blended and smooth.
• Divide dough in half and form each into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 to 3 hours, or overnight.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Working with one disk at a time, and leaving remaining disk in the refrigerator, unwrap chilled dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Working from the center to the edges, roll dough with a floured rolling pin to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
• Cut dough into desired shapes with cookie cutters, dipping the cutters into flour as needed so they don't stick to the dough. Fit the cookie cutters as closely together as possible to cut as many cookies as you can. This will minimize the number of times you have to re-roll the dough.
• Transfer gingerbread cookies to ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Gather any dough scraps into a ball, flatten, re-wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate to use for later batches.
• Bake each sheet in the preheated oven until firm, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool while you finish rolling, cutting, and baking the remaining cookies.
• Frost or decorate cooled gingerbread cookies as desired.

CHRISTMAS GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
• Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Beat in molasses and egg.
• Gradually add flour mixture to make a soft dough.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• On a lightly floured board, roll dough out to about 1/4" thickness. Do not roll too thin.
• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.
• Place on lightly greased baking sheets.
• Bake for about 8 minutes, or until just firm when pressed. Do not overbake.
• Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet.
• Remove and place on racks to finish cooling.
• Frost if desired. (Optional.).

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, molasses and shortening. Place over medium-low heat and stir just until mixture is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and mix in baking soda and 1/4 cup cold water. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Add egg, salt, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and cloves; stir to mix well. Add 4 cups flour and mix well, adding up to 1/2 cup more if dough seems sticky. Shape into a ball, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness, and cut into gingerbread boy shapes with a 5-inch-long cookie cutter. Arrange on baking sheets 1 1/2 inches apart, and bake until risen and no longer shiny, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow cookies to cool. If desired, decorate with royal icing and cinnamon candies. Store in an airtight container.