Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

I’m a full-fledge professional baker now.  It’s true.  I had my first paying baking job this weekend :)

 

I have to do a shout out to my lovely “client”, Katie of Accelerando Music.  She’s fantastic for anyone with kids in the DC area.  Accelerando offers private and group music lessons, in-home early childhood music courses for your playgroup, musical birthday parties, and live acoustic music for your restaurant, bar, wedding or private party.  (Though full disclosure, Katie’s a really good friend of mine that was also willing to pay me to bake Christmas cookies for her students :)   But who am I to turn down my first gig?

 However, baking 100 cookies turned out to be…. interesting…..  There was a lot of trial and error.  A lot of cursing.  And finally the feeling of victory as I figured out the trick to this cookie dough.

 Apparently gingerbread cookies are not nice.  Sure, cut out in cute little boy and girl shapes, they’re adorable.  But before they get there, they are an impossible, sticky, infuriating mess.  However, I suffered for you people.  I figured out the way so that you’re not cursing obscenities at your rolling pin.  (It’s not cute friends- trust me….the pup went and hid in his bed until I was done….)

 However- once you have "the trick" down, they're totes worth it.  They are what the recipe promised. Soft, chewy gingerbread cookies.

What’s the one dish you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t because you think it’ll be too difficult?

Adapted from here and here

What You’ll Need:

• 3 cups AP Flour
• ¾ cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp Ginger
• ½ tsp Ground Cloves
• ½ tsp Salt
• ¾ tsp Baking Soda
• 12 Tbsp Butter, room temp, cut into 12 chunks
• ¾ cup Molasses
• 2 Tbsp Milk
• Decorating supplies (I used melted chocolate chips with a pastry tip and red hot)

What To Do:

1. In your stand mixer bowl (the first recipe link has food processor instructions too, but I don’t recommend a hand mixer for this- you’ll burn it out), combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda.  Mix until fully combined.
2. Scatter butter pieces throughout your bowl and mix on medium until everything’s the texture of a fine meal (no large butter chunks).  Turn your mixer down to low and slowly pour in molasses and milk.  Turn mixer up to medium until everything is fully incorporated.
3. Take half the dough and roll out to ¼ inch thick between two pieces of wax paper.  Repeat with the other half.  Place both on cookie sheet (you can stack them) and freeze for 20-30 minutes.  Once chilled, preheat oven to 350F.
4. Remove one half of rolled dough from the freezer. Ok- now here’s where the trick is.  Slowly pull back the top layer of wax paper completely but then put it back in place.  Flip over your dough. Pull back the now top, sprinkle dough with flour and then also return that sheet to the dough.  Flip again (now you're back to the first side you removed). Peel back that paper and discard.  Now you’re ready to cut out your cookies.  Using whatever cookie cutter you choose, cut out shapes and lay them on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-9 minutes, rotating your cookie sheet 180 degrees halfway through.
5. Once baked, immediately pick up the parchment from the cookie sheet and lay entire thing on a wire rack to cool.  Wait about 5 minutes then transfer the cookies off the parchment straight to the cooling rack to fully cool.  They should come right up- if not, wait a couple more minutes and then try again.
6. Decorate to your little heart’s desire :)
   

   

Posted at Flying on Jess Fuel