Classic Gingerbread Cookies: What's Your 'Perfect' Gingerbread Man?

The best classic Gingerbread Cookies recipe for soft cookies! It simply wouldn't live Christmas without a batch of these tasty beauties.

Each twelvemonth at Christmas time, I create the tradition of gingerbread amongst my piffling 1st graders equally we're learning close dissimilar vacation traditions. I'm ever surprised to encounter how many of the students bring never tried gingerbread before.

This twelvemonth was no dissimilar ... over one-half my cast had never tried it. I dear to innovate my students to novel things!

I've discovered that my idea of the perfect gingerbread human being is drastically dissimilar than a 1st grader's visit of the perfect gingerbread man. Take a hold off at the photographs below in addition to you'll encounter what I mean.

Here's my perfect gingerbread human being ... simply plain. No frosting. No icing. No decorations. Just 'nekked,' to a greater extent than or less powerfulness say.

I similar to gustation the wonderful spicy gingerbread flavour without whatsoever contest from sweetness icings or embellishments.

Here's 1st graders' visit of the perfect gingerbread human being ... their philosophy = the to a greater extent than frosting the better!

It's thence fun to spotter them having a large ol' fourth dimension decorating their gingerbread. (I peculiarly dear the cookie on the bottom correct amongst the long ruby-red hair.)

On 'Gingerbread Afternoon,' I ready iii stations inwards the room that the students rotate through. At 2 of the stations, students operate on the gift nosotros brand for their parents - a gingerbread ornament amongst a photograph of the pupil equally the gingerbread "man's" face, in addition to a gingerbread employment solid gift purse made amongst a chocolate-brown newspaper tiffin sack.

At the 3rd station ... they acquire to decorate in addition to consume their gingerbread cookie. And they dear it!

What made this year's gingerbread stations extra fun was that my Mom in addition to Dad came to assistance out. I loved having them there!

My Mom facilitated the ornament station. My Dad helped me amongst the cookie station.

It was my Dad's outset fourth dimension volunteering inwards my classroom, in addition to he was thence sweetness amongst the kids. We worked together to demonstrate decorating a cookie for each group, in addition to thence we'd permit them bring at it themselves. Fun, fun, fun. It powerfulness live 1 of my favorite 1st marker days each year.

The recipe I usage for my gingerbread cookies is adapted from Muster Day Gingerbread inwards Valerie Barrett's The Complete Book of Gingerbread. The recipe gets its cite from the armed forces Muster Day held inwards New England each year. According to the recipe note:

"In New England earlier the Civil War, the outset Tuesday of every June was Muster or Training Day. All men from eighteen to 45 were required to move for armed forces preparation in addition to many of them took their families along. It became a festive occasion in addition to gingerbread was an essential role of the day's menu," (p. 18).

So, whether you lot prefer gingerbread 'just nekked' or the 1st-grade-way, taste creating your perfect gingerbread man!

I want you lot a real merry Christmas filled amongst tasty treats in addition to wonderful times amongst employment solid unit of measurement in addition to friends.

Thank you lot for stopping yesteryear . We'd dear to bring you lot dorsum soon!

Classic Gingerbread Cookies

Adapted from: Muster Day Gingerbread in The Complete Book of Gingerbread by Valerie Barrett
(Printable recipe)

Ingredients

1/4 c. brown sugar
generous 1/3 c. molasses
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. unsalted butter, cutting into chunks
1 egg
2 ½ to 3 c. all-purpose flour

Directions

Place butter chunks inwards a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
Put chocolate-brown sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, in addition to cloves inwards a pan* in addition to oestrus to boiling point. Stir inwards baking soda. Take off oestrus in addition to pour mixture over the butter inwards the mixing bowl.
Stir until the butter has melted. Break egg into the mixture in addition to stir to combine; thence operate inwards 2 ½ cups flour. Mix gently together until it becomes a polish dough, adding upwards to ½ loving cup to a greater extent than flour if needed.
Cover the bowl amongst plastic roll in addition to refrigerate for close an hour.
When chilled in addition to stiffened slightly, whorl out in addition to cutting out cookies amongst cookie cutters (I whorl mine a combat thick ... likely close 1/4" thick. I similar thick, soft cookies).
Place cookies on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Once cooled, decorate amongst icing, if desired.

(*Note - Place your chocolate-brown sugar, molasses, in addition to spices inwards a saucepan larger than you lot retrieve you'll need. When you lot stir inwards the baking soda, the mixture foams upwards on you!)

Enjoy!

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