It wouldn’t be Christmas without cookies, and gingerbread are probably my favourite. I love that it becomes a family activity, and even the smallest “chefs” can play an important role. I didn’t really plan ahead when I started making these, so I had to wing it a bit (i.e. I ran out of plain flour and had to add cake & pastry flour). And I ran out of my secret ingredient, pumpkin pie spice mix and had to supplement with cinnamon. Despite the glitches, they turned out perfectly delicious.

I hope your kitchen will be full of the wonderful smell of gingerbread cookies soon!

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups molasses

1 tsp baking soda

2 tablespoons vinegar

4 cups unbleached flour + 1 cup cake and pastry flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pumpkin pie mixed spices

1 tsp cinnamon

Frosting:

approx. 3 tbsp butter

2-3 cups Icing sugar

2-3 tbsp milk until you reach the right consistency

vanilla

Food colouring

Sprinkle for decorating

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy

Mix molasses and baking soda.

Add to sugar mixture along with vinegar.

Combine flour, salt, and spices.

Add to the mixture slowly until completely combined. Roll into a ball and place in the fridge to rest for about 10 mins. You don’t want to chill it too much or it will be hard to roll out.

On a floured counter roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.

Bake for 9 – 10 mins. Remove and let cool before removing and placing on rack to completely dry.

Make the frosting. I like to set up a “frosting station” for the kids with a variety of frosting colours and sprinkles. Note: It’s helpful to put a towel down because, trust me, there will be icing everywhere!

Once the cookies are decorate, leave to dry for a couple of hours. I live to freeze them so that we can grab some whenever we want.

But don’t forgot the most important person, Santa!! (goes well with milk!)