Best Chocolate Gingerbread Men Recipes

CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• Position racks in the top & bottom thirds of the oven, then preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• With shortening (not on ingredient list) to grease several large baking sheets, then set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder & cloves until spices & coca are evenly distributed, then set aside.
• In a 2nd large bowl, & using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream shortening & brown sugar until smooth & airy, about 1 minute.
• Beat in egg & then the molasses.
• Turn off mixer & add prepared flour mixture, then AT VERY LOW SPEED beat just until crumbly bits of dough form, but not until the mass begins to cohere into a ball.
• With flour lightly dust a clean, dry work surface as well as your hands.
• Turn dough out & knead just until it forms a smooth mass, about 30 seconds.
• Divide into thirds & cover them with a clean kitchen towel.
• With flour lightly dust the work surface again & roll one of the thirds to a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Flour the dough & a rolling pin only as necessary.
• Use a large gingerbread-man cookie cutter to cut the dough into the desired shapes, then use a metal spatula to transfer them carefully to the prepared baking sheet(s). Gather any scraps, lightly dust again with flour & roll out a 2nd time, creating additional gingerbread men.
• Decorate the cookies with the raisins & red hots, using one for the eyes & the other for the mouths. Additional red hots can be used as buttons on their coats.
• Bake for 4 minutes, then rotate sheets top to bottom & front to back.
• Bake another 4 minutes, or until cookies feel dry but still are a little soft.
• Remove from oven & cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
• Cool the baking sheets for 5 more minutes, then regrease them before baking additional batches, as necessary, OR work with 2 additional baking sheets, preparing them while the others are in the oven.
• Keep no longer than 2 days at room temperature, several more days in the refrigerator, OR up to a month in the freezer.

CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the molasses, egg, and melted chocolate and continue beating on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes. On low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Transfer the dough to a flat surface and flatten into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least hour, or up to 5 days. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Divide the chilled dough into four equal quarters, leaving three quarters in the refrigerator. Lightly flour a flat work surface and roll out one piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Using a small (2 to 2 1/2 -inch) gingerbread man or woman cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible. Place the cookies on the prepared cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart. Gather all the dough scraps into a ball and place in the refrigerator. Take out another quarter of the dough, and continue rolling out the dough and cutting cookies until all the dough has been used. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly raised. Using a spatula, remove the cookies from the cookie sheets, transferring to a wire rack to cool.

CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD MEN

Steps:

• 1. Cream butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and molasses. (I subsitute dark agave nector for the corn syrup and cut it back to 1/3 cup.)
• 2. Add egg and beat until well blended.
• 3. Add flour, cocoa, and spices, stir until well blended, adding more flour if necessary to make a stiff dough.
• 4. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.
• 5. On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness.
• 6. Cut out with desired cookie cutters and place on ungreased baking sheets.
• 7. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven 8 to 12 minutes.
• 8. Cool and remove from baking sheets. Keep in covered containers.