1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 cup unsulfured molasses
6 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 teaspoons ground ginger
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
Raisins, dragées, and/or red hot candies for decoration (optional)
Royal Icing for decoration (optional)
In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and molasses. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. Divide dough into thirds and wrap each third in plastic wrap. Chill for about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll dough 1/8 inch thick between two pieces of waxed paper. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Transfer shapes to ungreased cookie sheets. If desired, decorate with raisins, dragées, and/or red hot candies. Refrigerate about 15 minutes. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crisp but not dark. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then remove to wire racks to cool completely. If desired, decorate with Royal Icing.
Note: If you are going to use the cookies for decorations, make a hole for the cord or hook by poking the cookies with a toothpick or skewer as soon as they come out of the oven. Source: based on a recipe from Martha Stewart. We just toned down the black pepper a little bit. Martha uses 1 teaspoon of black pepper but we found it was a little bit too much for the kids. Some kids, however, really prefer Martha's original, so to each his own! If you'd like to kick it up, add the whole teaspoon of black pepper.
Lisa C. in Chicago Il. Dec 16, 2008
Would make this again.
These were so good. I made them this last weekend, to test them for my Christmas party on the 24th. My family loved them. They were a bit hard to stir, but its well worth all the effort. I did not have ground cloves so I used ground nutmeg instead. They came out delicious. My whole family gave me the thumbs up to make this for christmas!
Jamaica in Massachusetts Dec 13, 2008
Would make this again.
My father and I made this and they were delicious. We made them half recipe and we loved them. We twinged the recipe a bit by adding about a quarter cup of water to the mixture when we added the flour mixture because my dad was having a hard time stirring. We did not find them too salty or to spicy. They were great!!!
angelina Nov 30, 2008
Would make this again.
I've tried many recipes and this one makes the house just smell like christms!
TIP- I've found that if you refrigorate the dough over night instead of one hour, it allows the spices to blend,very nice, and easier to handle, also you don't have to chill the cut cookies for 15 mins if you do this. Just a tip
L in NYC Nov 25, 2008
Would make this again.
I used to hate gingerbread cookies b/c they were bland and hard. This is one of my new favorite cookie recipes! The best gingerbread cookie...ever!
A cookie baker Nov 9, 2008
Would make this again.
try using parchment paper on the cookie sheet
