Holiday Gingerbread!!

I should definitely not be blogging right now.  I should be cleaning my apartment…or going for a run…or wrapping Christmas presents…but blogging is way more fun!  We went over to Mary Michael’s apartment last night for our cookie exchange. I got to see friends I haven’t seen since college…and that’s always a treat.  Mary Michael cooked us seafood gumbo (which was SO good by the way), served us (literally) wine, and made us homemade cheese puffs.  She is the perfect hostess.  I said to her, “MM, I can’t wait until you have kids.  You’re going to be the best mom!”  Her response before I could finish what I was saying was, “Me either!  Don’t tell Bo!” (She’s engaged J)

After gumbo it was cookie time.  There were cookies galore…I’ve never seen so many.  We had every option you can imagine:  chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, sugar, ginger, caramel, oatmeal, and the list goes on.  Thanks so much, Mary Michael!!  We all had such a good time!

We were all in charge of bringing two dozen of our favorite Christmas cookies.  I chose to make holiday gingerbread.  I love gingerbread.  I made some a few years back, but I couldn’t put my hands on the recipe, so I found another one…

Have y’all heard of Bake at 350?  It’s a blog I found through The Pioneer Woman.  She has tons of impressive cookie recipes to choose from, so I thought of her when trying to find a new one for gingerbread.  She had a great, easy-to-follow recipe (and I had all of the ingredients in my pantry).

I’ll show you how I did it…

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, combine the molasses and baking soda.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt.

Here's a tip:  I didn't have any allspice (and I was not about to go to the grocery store for one ingredient), so I googled "how to make your own allspice".

There were a ton of different recommendations, but I went with this:

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon ginger + 1/4 teaspoon cloves = 1 teaspoon allspice

It worked great! 

 Next, scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl.

 BEGINNING and ENDING with the FLOUR mixture, alternate adding in your dry and wet ingredients.

(Sorry if the picture of adding in the wet ingredients confuses you)

 Mix until just combined after each addition.

 How easy was that?

 Next, pour your dough out, form it into a ball, and wrap with plastic wrap...

 ,,,then stick it in the freezer for one hour.

While that's happening, let's talk ICING!!

 I chose to make good ole' cream cheese icing (1) because it's my favorite, and (2) because it's really easy and it always turns out tasting O-SO-GOOD.

Start by whipping together 1 block of cream cheese and 2 sticks of softened butter.

 Then add in 1 pound of powdered sugar.

 And 1 teaspoon of mmmm-mmmm-good vanilla extract.

 Then you have to taste it.

 Utter heaven on a whisk.

Now it's time to make it festive and holiday-ish.

 Get out some food coloring of your choice.

Next, separate your icing into bowls (depending on how many colors you choose).

I chose red, green, and left one bowl white.

 And add it in one drop at a time.

 And mix it around.

 Until you reach your desired color..."leaf green"

 and "holiday red."

Next, remove your dough from the refrigerator and roll it out (on a floured surface or silpat liner) until it is 1/4 inch thick.

Work quickly because it melts and gets sticky!  I would recommend quartering your dough and rolling it out/cutting your shapes 1/4 of the dough at a time (while the others remain in the fridge).

 After your shapes are cut out, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and put them in the freezer for 5 minutes.

BAKE AT 350 FOR 10-12 MINUTES.

Then let them rest on the cookie sheets for a couple of minutes before you transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.  Let them cool completely before you ice them.

BACK TO THE ICING:

 Get out a number 3 pastry tip, a zip-loc bag (or pastry bag), and some scissors (if you are using the zip-loc).

 Cut a small corner off of the bag...

 Then place the pastry tip in the open corner.

 Then fill the bag with icing.

 And pipe away!

 Piping around the border of the cookies helps the icing stay inside the lines.

 Then fill it in...

 And decorate!

 I filled some in, left some empty...change it up however you wish!

They were so much fun to make!  I just wish I had a friend or little boy or girl nearby to help and share in the fun J

 Here's the only picture I took at the party.

Then someone (thankfully) stole my camera.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET EMILY (left)!!!!!!!!  I love you so much and am so thankful for you and the friendship we share J

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!!!!!!

(Recipe from Bake at 350 - I hope she doesn't mind that I'm posting it here.)

Gingerbread Cookies

(modified from Southern Living Incredible Cookies)

1/4 c water

1 & 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 c molasses

1 c butter, softened

1 c sugar

5 c unbleached, all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp coarse salt

1 & 1/2 TBSP ground ginger

1/2 tsp allspice

1 & 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Line baking sheets with parchment.

Stir together the water and baking soda until dissolved. Stir in the molasses; set aside.

Beat butter & sugar until fluffy and combined.

Whisk together flour, salt and spices.

Add to the butter mixture, alternating with the molasses mixture. Begin and end with the flour. Form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a floured cookie cutter and place on baking sheet. Freeze for 5 minutes before baking.

{They are going to spread.}

Bake 12 minutes (for a large shape). Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, then transfer to cooling rack. Cool completely before decorating with cream cheese icing.