Thanks to Cook’s Illustrated for the title and the recipe. Simply said, the best gingerbread cookie recipe we’ve come across!
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened slightly
- 3/4 cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons milk
- Confectioner’s sugar and water for frosting/decorating
Directions
- In the bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda at low speed until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Stop mixer and add butter pieces; mix at medium-low speed until mixture is sandy and resembles fine meal, about 1 1/2 minutes.
- Reduce speed to low and, with mixer running, gradually add molasses and milk; mix until dough is evenly moistened, about 20 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix until thoroughly combined, about 10 seconds.
- Scrape dough onto work surface; divide in half. Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll 1/4-inch thick between two large sheets of parchment paper.
- Leaving dough sandwiched between parchment layers, stack on cookie sheet and freeze until firm, 15 to 20 minutes. (Alternatively, refrigerate dough 2 hours or overnight.)
- Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove one dough sheet from freezer; place on work surface. Peel off top parchment sheet and gently lay it back in place. Flip dough over; peel off and discard second parchment layer.
- Cut dough into 5-inch gingerbread people or 3-inch gingerbread cookies, transferring shapes to parchment-lined cookie sheets with wide metal spatula, spacing them 3/4 inch apart; set scraps aside. Repeat with remaining dough until cookie sheets are full.
- Bake cookies until set in centers and dough barely retains imprint when touched very gently with fingertip, 8 to 11 minutes, rotating cookie sheets front to back and switching positions top to bottom halfway through baking time. Do not overbake.
- Cool cookies on sheets 2 minutes, then remove with wide metal spatula to wire rack; cool to room temperature.
- Gather scraps; repeat rolling, cutting, and baking in steps 2 and 4. Repeat with remaining dough until all dough is used.
- Frost with a simple confectioner’s sugar/water mixture.
For thin, crisp cookies, follow the above recipe, but quarter rather than half the dough, roll each quarter 1/8 inch thick, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees, and bake about 15 to 20 minutes. (My kids prefer the chewy version, so I have not made these.)
