:: Day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas Goodies 2010 ::
When I was younger, we would celebrate Christmas at my Grandma Carol’s house.  She had a lovely old Victorian-style house that was always decorated beautifully for the holidays, not to mention year-round.  When our extended family would get together, there would often be so much food that there was no longer any room in the refrigerator.  Fortunately, my grandma had a screened in porch on the back of her house that stayed very cold with our winters here in Kansas.  We used tables on the porch to store the goodies which needed to be kept cool.

Gingerbread Friends

My absolute favorite thing to eat straight off of the porch was Gingerbread cookies.  There was just something about them being cooled on the porch that made them taste even better.  Nothing brings back great Christmas memories like these cookies!

Begin by gathering around your ingredients.

The Lineup

Beat together the butter, sugar, milk, molasses, and egg.

Mix It Up

It will look a little weird at this point, but it’s not done yet.

Mixed Up

Now, add the rest of the ingredients and mix just until it all comes together.

Much Better

Now it’s time to roll it out, so that you can cut out the whole gingerbread family.

Cut it Out

Place the cookies about an inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Ready to Bake

After baking, the cookies will look a little puffier than before.  Let them cool for a little while on the baking sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Baked

Don’t you just love the little guys?  They are the perfect size for a tiny bite of gingerbread!

Stacked

Only stack them up like this to make more room for other cookies on the wire racks after they’ve completely cooled.  Otherwise, they’ll stick together and equal one big gingerbread mess.

Decorated

After they have completely cooled, decorate the cookies as you desire with decorating icing (butter, powdered sugar, a little vanilla, maybe some milk… I see another post that needs to happen).  They can be as traditional or fun as you wish, with plain white icing or bold with bright colors!  This is a great cookie to decorate with kids, because they will make some of the best and cutest cookies you’ve ever seen.  After the icing sets, enjoy!

Gingerbread Friends
From my mother’s recipe file

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
3 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter, molasses, milk, and egg and mix until well blended.  Add spices, flour, baking soda, and salt.  Mix until blended.  Roll onto a flour surface to 1/8″-1/4″ thick.  Cut into desired shapes with floured cookie cutters  Place 1″ apart on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 7 to 10 minutes.

Makes 3-4 dozen, depending on size of cookie cutters.