Gingerbread People
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) — room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup light molasses (or dark corn syrup)
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons water
melted white chocolate or Royal Icing — for decoration
Recipe Directions
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and baking soda together unti the mixture is smooth. Blend in the flour and mix it to form a stiff dough. Add the water as needed.
Chill at least 30 minutes or until firm. (I found that 2 hours or overnight worked best. 30 minutes just wasn’t long enough in my fridge that was overstuffed with Christmas food already.)
Preheat oven to 375-deg. F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch (1/16-inch for more crisp cookies.) and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters dipped in flour. Place about 2 inches apart on parchment covered baking sheet. (I used Magic Baking Sheets on my cookie sheets, but parchment should work just fine.) Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned. (Watch them, if you don’t want crisp cookies. I found 8 minutes gave a crisp edge and soft cookie using 4-inch tall cookie cutters.)
Dip cooled cookies into melted white chocolate to decorate, or decorate with Royal Icing.