Best Gingerbread Cookies Duff Goldman Recipes

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GINGERBREAD COOKIES



Gingerbread Cookies image

Gingerbread cookies are a must for the holidays, and these spiced gingerbread men have a festive taste that doesn't disappoint! Originally titled "Eileen's Spicy Gingerbread Men," this gingerbread cookie recipe is easy to make and fun to decorate with kids. Adjust the spices to your liking, and use any shape cookie cutter for a nice variety of holiday cookies.

Provided by Stephanie Schneidewind

Categories     Gingerbread Cookies

Time 1h40m

Yield 30

Number Of Ingredients 12

½ cup margarine, softened
½ cup white sugar
1 large egg yolk
½ cup molasses (not blackstrap)
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
½ teaspoon ground cloves, or to taste
½ teaspoon ground ginger, or to taste
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, or to taste

Steps:

  • Beat margarine and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until mostly incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, another 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolk, then molasses.
  • Whisk sifted flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg in a separate bowl until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture to the molasses mixture, beating until well blended and smooth.
  • Divide dough in half and form each into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 to 3 hours, or overnight.
  • When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  • Working with one disk at a time, and leaving remaining disk in the refrigerator, unwrap chilled dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Working from the center to the edges, roll dough with a floured rolling pin to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
  • Cut dough into desired shapes with cookie cutters, dipping the cutters into flour as needed so they don't stick to the dough. Fit the cookie cutters as closely together as possible to cut as many cookies as you can. This will minimize the number of times you have to re-roll the dough.
  • Transfer gingerbread cookies to ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Gather any dough scraps into a ball, flatten, re-wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate to use for later batches.
  • Bake each sheet in the preheated oven until firm, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool while you finish rolling, cutting, and baking the remaining cookies.
  • Frost or decorate cooled gingerbread cookies as desired.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 88.4 calories, Carbohydrate 14 g, Cholesterol 6.8 mg, Fat 3.3 g, Fiber 0.3 g, Protein 1 g, SaturatedFat 0.6 g, Sodium 103.4 mg, Sugar 6.4 g

GINGERBREAD COOKIES-DUFF GOLDMAN RECIPE



Gingerbread Cookies-Duff Goldman Recipe image

Provided by á-71200

Number Of Ingredients 17

Royal Icing (see Cook's Note):
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the surface
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 extra-large egg
Nonstick cooking spray, for spraying the parchment paper
4 cups powdered sugar (approximately)
3 extra-large egg whites (pasteurized)
3 drops lemon juice, plus more if needed
Food coloring, optional

Steps:

  • For the cookies: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, cloves and salt. In a big bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar together with a wooden spoon or a hand mixer. Mix in the molasses and egg until smooth, then add the flour mixture and mix until well combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness. Freeze it flat on a baking sheet for 20 to 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly spray the paper with cooking spray. Use your preferred cookie cutters to stamp out shapes (or use a paring knife and architect the gingerbread home of your dreams), then transfer the shapes to the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the dough no longer looks shiny, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. For the royal icing: Using a stand mixer and the whisk attachment, whip most of the powdered sugar with the egg whites and most of the lemon juice. Whip until the icing holds its shape and is bright white (not translucent), 5 to 8 minutes. If it is too soft, add more powdered sugar. If it is too stiff, add a bit more lemon juice, drop by drop. If you are using color, add a few drops of it at this point and keep whipping until you have a shade you want. Pipe the royal icing onto the cooled cookies to decorate. To store royal icing: The ideal way is to scrape it out of the bowl and into a plastic, disposable piping bag, then leave it at room temperature. Don't cut the bag until you're ready to use the royal icing and don't overfill the bag--you want enough room to tie the back of the bag off to keep the icing airtight. If any air comes into contact with the icing, it gets hard and that part of the icing is useless. Never attempt to mix hard bits back into the royal icing--you'll ruin the whole batch. The other accepted method of storing the icing is to scrape it into a plastic or ceramic bowl, and cover it with a wet paper towel. This method works, but it wastes both paper towels and royal icing. It's also just annoying. When you're piping small designs, you want to use very small parchment piping bags. It's easy to stick the nose of a large piping bag into a small one and extract exactly how much you need. When the icing is in a bowl, you have to use a spoon to get it out. The spoon is difficult to get into a piping bag, and you keep using spoons and wasting royal icing. Cook's Note You can also make the royal icing with meringue powder instead of egg whites. Use 4 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons meringue powder and 5 to 7 tablespoons water. Using a stand mixer and the whisk attachment, whip most of the powdered sugar with the meringue powder and most of the water. Whip until the icing holds its shape and is bright white (not translucent), 5 to 8 minutes. If it is too soft, add more powdered sugar. If it is too stiff, add a bit more water, drop by drop. You can also substitute royal icing powder. CK Products brand is my favorite.

OLD SCHOOL SUGAR COOKIES



Old School Sugar Cookies image

Provided by Duff Goldman

Categories     dessert

Time 2h

Yield 36 cookies

Number Of Ingredients 22

6 sticks (3 cups) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 extra-large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring
2 cups cake flour
Royal Icing (with egg whites), recipe follows, for decorating
Royal Icing (with meringue powder), recipe follows, for decorating
Royal Icing (with water), recipe follows, for decorating
Your favorite sprinkles or other edible candy, for decorating
4 cups powdered sugar (approximately)
3 extra-large pasteurized egg whites
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 cups powdered sugar (approximately)
3 tablespoons meringue powder
5 to 7 tablespoons water
4 cups royal icing powder
1/2 cup water
Food coloring, optional

Steps:

  • In a big bowl, combine the butter, sugar, lemon zest, salt and vanilla and mix until smooth and fluffy. Stir in the baking powder, taking care to mix well. Add the eggs and egg yolk and stir well. Add the flours and gently stir until a smooth ball forms. Wrap the dough in plastic and put in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet (or sheets) with parchment paper (no cooking spray).
  • On a floured surface, roll out tennis ball-size pieces of dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut out the shapes you want. Lay them on the prepared baking sheet, leaving at least 1/4 inch between each cookie.
  • Bake for 8 minutes, or until lightly golden. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack, then decorate them however you like with Royal Icing and your favorite sprinkles.
  • Using a stand mixer and the whisk attachment, whip most of the powdered sugar with most of the other ingredients. Whip for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the royal icing holds its shape and is bright white (not translucent). If it is too soft, add more powdered sugar. If it is too stiff, add a bit more liquid, drop by drop. If you are using only one color, add a few drops of the color at this point and keep whipping until you have the shade you want; otherwise, proceed to the next step.
  • To store royal icing, the ideal way is to scrape it out of the bowl and into a plastic, disposable piping bag, then leave it at room temperature. Don't cut the bag until you're ready to use the royal icing, and don't overfill the bag--you want enough room to tie the back of the bag off to keep the royal icing airtight. If any air comes into contact with the royal icing, it gets hard and that part of the icing is useless. Never attempt to mix the hard bits back into the royal icing--you'll ruin the whole batch. The other accepted method of storing royal icing is to scrape it into a plastic or ceramic bowl, and cover it with a wet paper towel. This method works, but it wastes both paper towels and royal icing. It's also just annoying. When you're piping small designs, you want to use very small parchment piping bags. It's easy to stick the nose of a large piping bag into a smaller one and extract exactly how much you'll need. When the icing is in a bowl, you have to use a spoon to get it out. The spoon is difficult to get into a piping bag, and you'll keep using spoons and wasting royal icing. Get with the times people. Do it right and don't waste food.

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