Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

from Ellen's kitchen, with thanks to Cook's Country

Store the cookies in a wide, shallow airtight container or tin with a sheet of parchment or waxed paper between each cookie layer.

Ingredients for Cookies:

• 3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup packed (5¼ ounces) dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp
• ¾ cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons milk

Ingredients for Icing:

• 2 large egg whites
• 2 2/3 cup (10 2/3 oz) confectioner's sugar

Cut:

• four 12 by 8-inch sheets of parchment paper. Process flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, cloves, and salt in food processor until combined, about 10 seconds. Add butter, molasses, and milk and process until soft dough forms, about 20 seconds. Transfer to counter and knead with hands until dough forms cohesive ball.

Divide:

• dough in half. Roll 1 portion of dough to ¼-inch thickness between 2 sheets of prepared parchment. Repeat with remaining dough and parchment. Leaving doughs sandwiched between parchment layers, freeze until firm, 15 to 20 minutes. (Alternatively, refrigerate doughs for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.)

Adjust:

• oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment.

Remove:

• doughs from freezer. Peel off top parchment and cut dough into 5-inch gingerbread people or 3-inch gingerbread cookies. Transfer cookies to prepared sheets, spacing them ¾ inch apart. Repeat with dough scraps, rolling between parchment and chilling dough if it becomes too soft to work with. (Depending on your cookie cutter dimensions, all cookies may not fit on sheets; second round of baking may be required.)

Bake:

• cookies until set in centers and dough barely retains imprint when touched gently with fingertip, 8 to 11 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely before decorating and serving. (If second round of baking is required, cool sheets completely before proceeding.)

Icing:  

• This recipe makes bright white icing. Stir 1 to 2 drops of food coloring into the icing before transferring it to a pastry bag for more colorful decorating options.

Using:

• stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip egg whites and sugar on medium-low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and whip until glossy soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed.

Transfer:

• icing to piping bag fitted with small round pastry tip. Decorate cookies and let icing harden before serving.