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My favorite Gingerbread

Source of Recipe

Betty Crocker


List of Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups dark molasses
2/3 cup cold water
7 cups all-purpose flour *
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
* if using self-rising flour, omit soda and salt.




Recipe


Mix brown sugar, shortening, molasses and water. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.

Heat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheet lightly. Roll about 1/4 of the dough about 1/4 inch thick on floured board. Cut with floured gingerbread cutter or other favorite cutter. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until no indentation remains when touched; cool. Decorate with colored frosting (see Creamy Vanilla Frosting below), colored sugar and candies if desired. About 2 1/2 dozen 2 1/2-inch cookies; 185 calories per cookie.

That's the actual recipe. I tend to roll the dough a bit on the thick side - the cookies come out almost cake-like. The mess is HUGE but pretty quick to pick up if you sweep all the leftover flour off the counter BEFORE you add a wet sponge to the process. My best memories of high school include my brother, sister and I carefully frosting 2 or 3 cookies - and then doing an insane slapdash job with frosting and sugar sprinkles.

CREAMY VANILLA FROSTING
3 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
about 2 tbsp. milk

Mix powdered sugar and magarine. Stir in vanilla and milk. Beat until smooth and of spreading consistency. 16 servings: 130 calories per serving.

This frosting is easy to spread and can be adjusted for thickness by adding more or less milk. I usually divide it up into 4 bowls - white, red, green and yellow (for the stars, of course!) It's a cinch to clean with a hot soapy rag.