Spicy Sweetness

As Thanksgiving weekend draws to a close I have one more tradition to uphold: ginger cookies. Every year I make these wonderful, spicy treats as a kick-off to holiday baking. They fill the house with the luscious aromas of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves which seem to provide a warmth unparalleled by other treats (at least in my mind). As children, my brother and I came home to these scents each year, and now it just isn't Christmas for me until I've eaten a few iced cookies with a glass of cold milk. While the taste remains the same year after year, the decorations frequently vary. Some years I cut the cookies into fruit shapes, brush them with a crystalline lemon glaze, and then outline the designs in bright white royal icing. Other years, the whole family has decorated ornament shapes with star tips and multiple colors of butter cream frosting. This year, simplicity reigns with traditional shapes and a vanilla icing that will harden to a glossy white finish. While these cookies do take some time and effort, the end result is well-worth the trouble. Enjoy!

Pigs are considered good luck in Germany!

Rolled Ginger Cookies
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses (for a less spicy cookie, use half molasses and half honey)
2 tablespoons vinegar
5 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 teaspoons ground ginger (I always put in the whole amount.)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves

Cream the shortening and sugar. Beat in the egg, molasses, and vinegar. Sift together the dry ingredients and add about a cup at a time with the mixer on low speed until blended. Divide the dough in half and form into two disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours. (I often make the dough on evening and leave the cutting, baking, and decorating for the next day.)

Roll the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness on a well-floured surface. (If you have a dough board and rolling pin cover, use them here.) Cut into shapes and place on a cookie sheet lined with foil. (They don't spread much, so you can put them pretty close together.) Bake at 375 degrees for 5 or 6 minutes. Leave them on the pan for at least five minutes after removing them from the oven, and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. I usually get about four and a half dozen small to medium-sized cookies, plus another half dozen larger gingerbread men.

Cookie Icing (This icing takes awhile to harden, but it finishes up glossy and tasty.)
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

Stir all ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. The icing will be stiff. If you want thinner icing, just add more milk. One more tablespoon creates a medium consistency, while two more will make the icing thinner but still spreadable. I like it a little thinner since I prefer to taste the spice of the cookie over the sugar of the icing. (You can also put a thin coat of icing on the cookies, allow it to set, and then add details on top by piping on royal icing.)