At this time of year when we are constantly told that it is not okay to say Merry Christmas I get so frustrated. I personally do not feel that it is either right or fair that we are now no longer supposed to say something that has been such an integral part of our culture. People have celebrated Christmas for centuries and suddenly it's a bad thing? I don't think so!
Oh shoot, I got a little ranty there didn't I? I'm sorry about that folks. I get pretty wound up about stuff like that more and more lately. Not the best way to start off a post is it?
Let's get on with this post shall we? (Sheesh, I need to work on my typing skills a bit. I'm using that backspace key way more than I should be. Haha!)
I chose a real classic for this post. Gingerbread. I should clarify, I chose gingerbread cookies. Personally I love these cookies. They can be cut into all kinds of shapes and they're super fun to decorate.
The only thing I decided to do differently was the way I cut them. Sounds kind of strange right? Well, you'll see what I mean the further we get in this post.
Most people are pretty familiar with gingerbread cookies and how to make them. Or at least, I'm assuming they are. They are pretty simple but let's get out those ingredients.
For these cookies we need:
- Canola oil (2/3 cup)
- Molasses (1/4 cup)
- Brown sugar (1 cup)
- Eggs (2)
- Flour (3 cups)
- Cinnamon (2 tsp)
- Ginger (2 tsp)
- Cloves (1 tsp)
- Baking soda (1 tsp)
- Salt (1/2 tsp)
I feel like I need to make the recipe parts of these posts just a bit neater somehow. I'll have to look into that. In the meantime, let's get mixing!
- Start off by mixing the oil, molasses and brown sugar in a stand mixer.
- While that is mixing you can get your dry ingredients whisked together in a separate bowl.
- Now, go ahead and add your eggs to the wet mixture one at a time.
- Slowly start stirring in the dry ingredients.
- The dough is supposed to be sticky. So don't worry. Get a floured surface ready to go and dump your cookie dough out of the bowl to work it with your hands. Slowly work in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- On a lightly floured surface now, roll out your dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out your shapes!
- Bake for 8 minutes. Yes, they'll appear "cracked".
- Let cool at least 2 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.
So, when it came to the cutting out part I already had a plan in mind for what I wanted to do with these cookies. I really didn't want to do plain old gingerbread men. I really wanted to do something different. So instead I went and made a "picture".
I rolled out chunks of cookie dough at a time and carefully cut my shapes using a ruler and a knife for the majority of it. It took me a while to get all these shapes cut out just right but in the end I was pretty pumped.
Something different that I also did was I didn't refrigerate the dough before I rolled it out. I have had way too much trouble trying to roll cold dough. I get frustrated because to roll it out it needs to be soft and pliable but if it's cold it's the very opposite of that. So I rolled it out first between 2 sheets of parchment paper and then put it in the refrigerator. Much easier I must say.
I ended up leaving the dough in the fridge overnight (which is okay too) because of how late it ended up being by the time I got it all rolled out and into the fridge. So in the morning I got to work on my cutting. Like I mentioned above, I used a ruler and a knife for the majority of this part.
Since I was making a picture with these different shapes I had to make sure I had plenty of all the different kinds I would need. That was the tricky part for me. So I started with the shapes I would need the least of and quickly got them into the oven. After that I just worked my way up to the shapes I would need the most of. It ended up being a lot of fun.
So now I had all my shapes cut and baked. The decorating was obviously next. And this is the part I struggle with the most I find. Everyone tells me I'm pretty artistic. But that's on paper with a pen or pencil. This is much, much trickier. And you need a much steadier hand. I have an aunt who does phenomenal cake decorating and every time I see one of her works I am blown away. (And a little jealous. Haha!)
This part took the longest. And of course I had somewhere to be by a certain time. I was definitely not going to leave these cookies behind so I had to bust my butt. Not easy to do with a toddler who loves to tickle my feet. (I should not have taught her how to tickle.)
Ta-da! The finished picture! I was pretty happy with how it turned out I have to admit. Not every idea I have works out quite so well.
No time for taste-testing now though! These little treats are going for a car ride. (Hopefully they make it to their destination.)
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