Tasty Tidbits: Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies:
This recipe is from a family friend and is truly the best gingerbread cookie recipe I have ever tasted. There are variations for use as ornaments or for using it in a cookie press. If your cookies last long enough (ours don't) and start to get a little dry, just place a piece of bread on wax paper in the container with the cookies for 24 hours. The moisture will return to the cookies and they will taste as soft and delicious as when they were first baked.

Ingredients
1/3 cup Crisco (butter flavored preferred)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) Dark or Medium Dark Molasses (your preference)
2/3 cup COLD water
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon

wax paper
rolling pin
additional flour
cookie cutters
2 baking pans
cooking spray

Combine Crisco through molasses into a mixing bowl. With a hand mixer, beat until just blended. Slowly add in COLD water until blended. In a separate bowl sift together all dry ingredients, flour through cinnamon. Slowly add dry ingredient mixture to molasses mixture about 1/2 cup at at time while blending with a hand mixer until all dry ingredients are incorporated. Do not over beat. Separate the dough into two balls, cover with wax paper and chill for 2-3 hours or until firm enough to be able to work with the dough using a rolling pin.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove one dough ball from the refrigerator. On a clean and lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until 1/4" thick. (You may wish to rub some flour onto the rolling pin to prevent the dough from sticking). Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out shapes in the dough. Repeat process with remaining dough. On a cookie pan seasoned with cooking spray, lay out cut shapes leaving about 1/2-1" space between each to allow for spreading during baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cook for about three minutes. Using a spatula, remove cookies from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack or wax paper. Decorate with your favorite frosting.

*To make ornaments, increase the flour to 7 cups. Follow instructions for chilling and rolling out dough to make desired shapes. Bake for 12-14 minutes so that cookies are more crisp. Immediately when cookies are removed from the oven, take a straw and using the open end press a circle cut into the top of the cookie shape to allow for a string to be inserted in order to hang the cookies later. Follow cooling directions and decorate as desired. If you wish to preserve the cookies for longer use (3-4 years) spray with polyurethane and allow to dry for 24 hours. Using a sturdy string, thread through the hole and hang on Christmas tree branches.

**To use in a cookie press, skip the chilling process and follow instructions for your press. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes or as desired.