There are several kinds of gingerbread cookies, from the soft, chewy type with large cracks in the surface, to the very smooth, brittle sort used to build houses and men.  This post is about the latter.

Below is a very simple gingerbread recipe that I wanted to post on Button Soup for the sake of completeness, as I use it to build my gingerbread houses.  I like to cut the excess dough into other traditional shapes, like men, Christmas trees, and dinosaurs.

Tips and Tricks

• The key to getting this dough to hold its shape during baking is to roll it quite thin, about 1/8″, and to chill it thoroughly before baking.
• This is one of the very few instances that I prefer blackstrap or baking molasses to the fancy sort.  I really like the minerality and acidity of the cheaper stuff.
• Lightly oil the inside of the bowl in which you will measure out the molasses.  This way the molasses with slide out and you won’t have to wash any sticky residue out later.

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients

• 4 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 oz white sugar
• 6.5 oz blackstrap molasses
• 3 oz water
• 18 oz all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Procedure

1. Cream butter and white sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, periodically scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
2. Add the molasses and water and beat until combined.
3. Combine remaining ingredients and slowly add to the butter and sugar mixture while stirring on the lowest speed.
4. Continue mixing on lowest speed until dough comes together and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
5. Cover dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes.
6. Roll out to 1/8″ thickness (about 4 mm) and cut into desired shapes.
7. Put on a bake sheet with silicon lining and refrigerate 15 minutes.
8. Bake in a 350°F oven for ten minutes.
9. Remove to a wire rack to cool.