Soft Gingrbread Cookies ~ By Caroline

This recipe was discovered by Victoria last week, and since they were SO GOOD I decided to make them again and post the recipe on here! They are definitely the best gingerbread cookies I've ever had! :-)  Christmas is just around the corner now, and these are perfect for an adorable, decorative dessert!

 

 

Cookie Ingredients: 

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 molasses (not blackstrap)
1 egg yolk
2 cups all-purpose flour (even a little extra won't hurt)
1/2 tsp.salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness (I made mine thicker and they turned out great) Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on cookie sheets, lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven, until slightly cracked on the top. (This produces a very soft cookie, but if you like the crispier texture, bake for 10 minutes) Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

 

Wisk ingredients together in a small bowl. Icing should be very thick. Pour into a small Ziploc bag, snip off a corner, and pipe icing onto cookies.  Enjoy!