Gingerbread

Gingerbread is a most classic holiday cookie. Rich with spices, especially the wonderful warm flavor of ground cloves, gingerbread is a delightfully soft, chewy cookie that is delicious on its own, but when made into cookies, you can frost them using an icing derived from confectioner's sugar. Feel free to decorate these with colored sugars or any way you choose. My favorite cutters to use when making these are a pine tree, snowman, and a small Santa. My mother likes to use the large gingerbread boy cutter, but keep in mind your yield will vary based on what size of cutter you use.

Gingerbread

¼ cup boiling water

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup Brer Rabbit molasses (not blackstrap)

3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, pour the boiling water over the butter and cream until smooth. Add the sugar and molasses and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients and mix just until the flour disappears. Chill the dough until firm. If you want a bit of an easier time when it comes time to roll the dough, divide the dough into quarters before you chill it. Flatten the quarters out a bit, then wrap them individually in plastic wrap. Chill them, then roll as normal.

Flour a board or use a pastry cloth; flour the cloth well. If you have a sock for your rolling pin, use that and flour it well.

Roll out the dough out to about ¼" thick. Cut with desire cookie cutters and transfer to lightly greased cookie sheets. 

Bake for about 10 minutes. Transfer the cookies to racks and cool completely. Frost using a confectioner's sugar icing, decorate with colored sugars and let sit until the icing firms up.

Makes about 4 dozen, based on the size of the cutters