I have two gingerbread recipes. One of them is really tasty and made with brown sugar. The other one is really easy to work with for gingerbread projects. It's not that number two tastes bad - because it doesn't. It's just that there's something extra yummy about gingerbread made with brown sugar.
You can't really go wrong with either of these recipes.
Just a note, that I always double the cinnamon because that's what Paul likes.
For the icing, if I'm doing a "project" I glue it all together with Royal Icing. Otherwise a nice butter icing works really well. I make my Royal Icing old school. I use genuine, unpasteurized egg whites. No one has died yet. That I know of. Uncle Google, however, will tell you to use meringue powder for safety. I suppose you could get it at Galloways or Whole Foods.
There's a recipe for Royal Icing if you scroll to the bottom of this post. I usually wing it though, using 1 egg white per cup of icing sugar and if it doesn't seem thick enough after 5 minutes (yes, 5 actual minutes) of beating, I throw a bit more in. It kind of depends whether I need flow for drawing eyes and details, or something stiffer to hold big pieces together.
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| Sometimes I make my own parchment cones, but since I got this cool little set, I've been using it to do the decorating. It comes with 5 plastic bottles and regular decorating tips fit perfectly. For the reindeer, I used red, green, white, and black. Be sure to use good quality colour paste or gel to get vibrant colours! |
So without further ado, here are my two variations on a theme plus one from Canadian Living magazine, by special request, for you Rachel.
Gingerbread #1 (tasty)
1 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup milk
3 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground cloves
Cream shortening, sugar, molasses and milk. Combine dry ingredients and stir into creamed mixture in 3 additions just until smooth dough forms.
Divide in half and wrap with plastic and chill 3 hours or overnight.
Let stand for 15 minutes at room temp. before rolling out.
Bake at 350 degrees:
8-12 minutes for small pieces
12-18 minutes for medium pieces
18-24 minutes for large pieces.
Heather's Gingerbread #2 (easy to build big projects with)
3/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light molasses (or corn syrup)
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
Beat together shortening, sugar, molasses and egg. Beat well.
Add half the dry mixture and combine well. Stir in remaining flour.
Roll out 1/4" thick and cut into shapes.
Bake @ 350° and bake 10 - 12 minutes.
Gingerbread #3 (from a Canadian Living magazine. I probably used this one for the lighthouse project 2012)
1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened
1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup (175 mL) fancy molasses
1/2 cup (125 mL) cooking molasses
5-3/4 cups (1.425 L) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (10 mL) ground ginger
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
1 tsp (5 mL) ground cloves
1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
Easy Royal Icing (from Canadian Living magazine)
2/3 cup (150 mL) pasteurized egg whites
6-3/4 cups (1.675 L) icing sugar
In large bowl, beat egg whites until foamy, 30 to 60 seconds. Beat in icing sugar, 1 cup at a time, until thick and glossy, 6 to 8 minutes. Cover with damp cloth to prevent drying out.
(Make-ahead: Refrigerate in airtight container with cloth directly on surface for up to 2 days. Let come to room temperature before using.)
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