Easy Peasy Gingerbread Cookies!
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READ FIRST: Gingerbread, as I learned, takes time to make. After making the dough, it needs to chill (preferably overnight) so don’t get your kids all excited to decorate cookies right away because you’ll have to let them down (learn from my mistakes LOL).
3/4 cup of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup maple syrup
1 large egg
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbs ground ginger
1 tbs ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk
food coloring (optional)
Using a blender (I used the Hamilton Beach 6 Speed Stand Mixer), blend the brown sugar and butter on high for 2-3 minutes. I love using our Hamilton Beach Mixer because it’s easy to set up, clean and my son can help me more than he can with using a hand blender!
Add in flour, maple syrup and egg gradually and continue beating until well blended. Add remaining ingredients and beat for 2 minutes.
Wrap dough saran wrap and place in refrigerator to chill overnight. This step is SO important (I tried skipping it and trust me… it will be nearly impossible to cut your cookies into shapes).
Once chilled, heat over to 350 degrees
Roll out the dough into a sheet about 1/4 inch thick (I found it easiest to roll 1/3 of my dough at a time and leave the rest in the fridge because as it heats up, it becomes sticky and hard to cut out).
cut out your shapes and place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.
For icing, add all ingredients into blender and blend on high speed until well mixed. For coloured icing, add to bowl and add 10 drops of colouring and mix well. You can spread the icing on the cookies with a spatula, or you can put the icing in a ziplock bag, seal and cut the corner for a quick and easy piping bag.
