gingerbread cookies

made use of the recipe from this site.  herein is my personal notation for future reference.

 ingredients:

• 3.5 cups all-purpose flour (spooned/leveld)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened, room temp)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup unsulphered/dark molasses (apparently Grandma's brand.  which was the only version in the grocery store anyway)
• 1 egg (room tep)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

preparation: 

• in large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves
• in a large bowl, beat butter (hand mixer or whatever) for 1 min on medium until smooth/creamy
• add the brown sugar and molasses and beat on medium high until combined/creamy
• beat in egg and vanilla on high for 2 full minutes
• add the dry ingredients and beat on low until combined (it will be thick/sticky)
• divide dough in half and place each onto plastic wrap.  wrap tightly and create a disc and chill at least 3 hours (or overnight)

• roll out disc until 1/4 inch thick
• cut into shapes and place about 1 inch apart on baking sheets 
• bake at 350°F on about 9 minutes for smaller cookies.  apparently 11 minutes for larger (4"+ cookies)
• cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet and then transfer to cooling rack 

 discussion:

9 minutes was about right for baking.  the consistency was soft on inside, a little crisp at edges.  overall nice.  probably would bump up the spices.  i couldn't find the meringue powder at publix, so i didn't do the homemade royal icing this time.  went with premade icing.  kids enjoyed the making and the eating.  and nat enjoyed the decorating so far.