It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas....

There are a few things, without which, there simply cannot be Christmas: a bedazzled tree in my living room, The Nutcracker playing on my iPod, a bottomless cup of hot chocolate, and the smell of gingerbread wafting from the kitchen.

As a little girl, my mom and I set aside two or three days every December to bake and decorate a gingerbread house.  The project always started with shopping for candy - Andes Mints for "wooden" roof shingles, jelly bean bricks, candy cane gutters and a peppermint patty "stone" walkway.  Next, we would make the gingerbread, refrigerate the dough and bake it in specific molds.  When all the pieces were ready to go, we would arm ourselves with pastry bags of Royal Icing and commence construction.  The result was always beautiful to look at and fun to eat!

Over the last few years, I have made it a tradition in my own family to make (and sometimes send) gingerbread cookies to friends and family for little Christmas gifts.  This year - with my mom in town for a pre-Christmas visit - we decided to build Sean and Ryan's first Gingerbread House.

Sean and his Oma

Gingerbread has a long and storied history, but it first appeared in Europe during the 11th century when the Crusaders brought ginger and other spices from the Middle East.  Early recipes for gingerbread used stale breadcrumbs, nuts, little sugar, and of course, ginger (which only wealthy could afford).  By the 16th century, spices were more widely available and flour and eggs were introduced into the mix.  The result was a sweeter and lighter cookie, often cut various shapes and exchanged as love tokens.  Queen Elizabeth I is apparently credited with the first "gingerbread man" - she gave visiting dignitaries cookies shaped in their own likeness as gifts.

I like my gingerbread soft and on the puffier side, more like a German lebkuchen.  But when I make gingerbread for houses, I bake the same dough twice as long so it is firm enough to hold together (and support the weight of all that candy).  It can be quite a production, but the investment in time and effort always pays off in memories for the kids.  So whether you go hog wild and make a gingerbread castle, or just break out the cookie cutters for a plate of cookies for the kids, I hope you'll try this recipe and make some Christmas magic....

Happy Holidays!!

Sean’s Favorite Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
¾ tsp baking soda
3 tsps ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2  tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
½ cup unsalted butter
½ granulated white sugar
1 large egg
2/3 cup unsulphured molasses

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and spices and set aside.  In another large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light.  Add egg and molasses and beat to combine.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.  Turn out the dough and shape into two disks.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and use cut-outs of your choice.  Bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes.  

If you plan to make a gingerbread house, prepare the dough and use whatever molds you prefer.  Bake for roughly 15-20 minutes, or until firm and golden brown.  Allow the gingerbread to cool in the molds for at least ten minutes before carefully removing it.  The gingerbread pieces can (and should) be made a day ahead of constructing the house - the gingerbread will dry out slightly and make it sturdier. 

Ryan, generously helping to clean up.

When you are ready to begin building, make up a batch of the Royal Icing listed below and start building!

Royal Icing:
3 egg whites at room temperature

1 lb confectioner’s sugar

3/4 tsp cream of tartar

a few drops of vanilla extract or lemon juice

Beat egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar until well blended.  Add vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form and mixture has tripled in volume.  Store at room temperature until ready to use.