gingerbread cookies
The smell of gingerbread cookies baking while it’s cold outside will set anyone in a cozy, festive mood and is the perfect treat to make to start off this holiday season! This gingerbread recipe doesn’t skimp on flavor and makes up to 100 cookies!
History behind gingerbread houses
Most of us have decorated a gingerbread house at least once in our lifetime but did you know that this festive tradition started from the famous Grimms brothers fairy tale Hansel and Gretel? After the story was published in 1912 German bakers got inspired to bake fairy tale style houses made of gingerbread and eventually the tradition spread to other countries as well. The largest gingerbread house ever made was in Bryan, Texas at 60ft long, 42ft high, and over 10ft tall!
How to make gingerbread cookies?
Now let’s get baking! In a medium pot, melt together butter, sugar, brown sugar, dark syrup, orange zest, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom and bring to boil. Cool to room temperature. Transfer the sugar/spice mixture into a large bowl and mix in the eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the flour one cup at a time into the sugar/spice mixture. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough in it, cover and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Dust a counter with flour and roll the dough to just under 1cm thick. Cut out cookie shapes and bake for 6-8 minutes. Let each batch sit for 5 minutes after pulling them out of the oven before transferring on the wire rack. To make the royal icing, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, then the vanilla extract. Whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold in food coloring. Decorate the cookies and let them sit in room temperature until the royal icing has hardened.
Tips
Let the cookie dough rest for at least 8 hours before baking for best results.
Let each batch cool on the cookie sheet before moving. The cookies will be soft straight out of the oven but will harden within couple minutes.
Make sure the cookies are completely cool before decorating them.
Recommended products to make this recipe
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