Spiced Gingerbread Cookies

This recipes calls for whole wheat flour. I have never bought whole wheat flour, so I substituted all-purpose flour. My friend Jen laughed at me because usually the trend these days is to substitute something healthier. They are pretty good with all-purpose flour, but feel free to use whole wheat.

I made this recipe simply to entertain my daughter. She has been begging to make Gingerbread cookies. I thought we'd have to wait until Christmas, but then I saw this recipe in my parenting magazine.

As an activity for a child who rarely naps anymore, making these cookies was awesome. We made it last all afternoon. From making the dough, to cutting cookies, to coluring the icing, to decorating. Hours of fun.

I used this royal icing recipe because the one that came with the recipe called for egg-white powder and I didn't have any. I had a lot more success with the icing this time, it was less runny. The icing sets hard enough that you can stack the cookies. Using bottles for the icing is awesome. My three-year-old can handle icing bottles very well.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup molasses

2 tbsp milk

3 cups flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1tsp ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1. In electric mixer, beat butter and borwn sugar until well combined.
2. Beat in egg, milk, and molasses. Don't be alarmed if the batter separates.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ones in three stages. This will form a firm dough.
4. Divide dough into two portions. flatten each into a disc, wrap in plastic, and chill in fridge for an hour or up to three days.
5. Roll out chilled dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. place cookies 1-inch apart and bake for 15 minutes at 350 F. Transfer to a rack to cool before decorating.

Inspiration: Canadian Family Magazine