The quintessential smell of Christmas baking is Gingerbread Cookies at least according to my nose. The spicy ginger and the warm cinnamon combine to smell like holiday happiness. Gingerbread Cookies still have that beautiful Christmas aroma days later when you take the lid off the cookie tin where there is hopefully at least one left to have with your tea.
If you are a lover of all things Gingerbread you have to go to England and visit the little village of Grasmere. They make the most wonderful gingerbread cake and it is so worth standing in line for it. The entire town is cloaked in the smell of gingerbread coming from this wonderful little shop. I wonder if the townsfolk ever get tired of the aroma coming from this wonderful bakeshop?
But if you don’t make it to Grasmere you can reproduce the wonderful aroma in your own kitchen. It is important that your spices be fresh. Ginger seems to loose it’s potency after a few months, so pick up some new ground ginger to make these the ultimate cookie. The addition of freshly ground pepper enhances the ginger and cinnamon and just brings the flavour to the next level. Don’t be tempted to omit it…no one will know there is pepper in it.
I decorated my Gingerbread Cookies with Royal Icing but you don’t have to decorate at all if you are intimated by the thought of piping icing. The cookies are wonderful plain or you can add some sprinkles just before baking.
Another tip for cutting out the cookies is to roll the dough between 2 layers of plastic wrap before you refrigerate it. This way once the dough is chilled it is ready to cut right away and you don’t need to wait for it to become pliable enough to roll. I’ve kept the dough up to 3 days in the fridge before baking- just ensure it is well sealed so that it does not dry out.
So here is to Christmas baking and the wonderful smells of the season…enjoy!
- Cookie Dough
- 2½ cups of all purpose flour
- 1½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup salted butter, room temp
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, room temp
- ⅓ cup fancy molasses
- Royal Icing
- 2 tbsp meringue powder
- 4 tbsp room temp water
- 2⅓ cup icing sugar, sifted
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, pepper, cloves, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter and sugar until fluffy- about 2 minutes. Stop mixer and add the molasses and the egg. Beat until well combined - about another 2 minutes scraping down the sides at least once.
- Add in the flour mixture in 3 additions until well combined.
- Divide the dough into 2 portions. Place each piece between 2 layers of plastic wrap and roll out to ¼" thickness. Ensure dough is well sealed and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove dough from fridge. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap and cut out shapes with your choice of cookie cutter. Re-roll scraps to use up all of the dough. If the dough becomes warm refrigerate again before cutting.
- Bake one sheet of cookies at a time for 10-12 minutes depending on the size of your cookie. Rotate cookies sheets half way through baking. Let cool on sheet for 3-4 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Royal Icing: While cookies are cooling in a large bowl beat the water and meringue powder until white and foamy about 2 minutes. Add the icing sugar about ½ cup at a time until it becomes stiff and very glossy about 3-4 minutes. Cover bowl with a damp paper towel and plastic wrap until ready to use.
- You can separate into small bowls and add food colouring.
- Transfer to piping bags fitted with a small round tip to pipe cookies. Keep tips of bags covered with damp towel when not using to avoid the icing from hardening.
- Let iced cookies sit at room temp for at least an hour to set before storing in a cookie tin. Place wax paper between the layers to protect your art work.