Grandma Maude's Great Big Soft Gingerbread Cookies
This recipe has been in my family for generations. It is a big fat soft, not crackly, cookie that is truly a cookie-bread as it is not at all sweet without the icing.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the cookie:
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup shortening ( I use butter)
- 1 cup molasses (I use the dark "Old Fashioned" molasses, not the "Fancy")
- 1 cup sour milk (sour it with a Tbsp. vinegar)
- add 2t soda to sour milk just before adding to batter
- add 1t soda into vinegar just before adding to batter
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (you may need an extra one if you need to sour your own milk by adding a tablespoon of vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon , cloves, and ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (but I added a teaspoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4-5 cups flour
Ingredients for the Icing:
- 3 cups icing sugar
- 1 cup soft butter
- zest of one or two oranges
- enough orange juice to mix into a fondant or play dough type consistency
Instructions
Instructions for the cookie:
- Cream shortening and sugar
- Add molasses and egg, and continue to cream mixture
- Add two teaspoons of soda to the sour milk
- Add one teaspoon of soda to the tablespoon of vinegar
- Add milk, vinegar, spices, and salt to the molasses and egg mixture
- Move the batter into a bigger bowl, if necessary and fold in the flour
- Refrigerate batter one hour, or over night to enable a rolling consistency
- Remove dough from refrigerator and pre-heat your oven to 350 F
- Roll dough between two pieces of very lightly floured parchment paper
- Cut into shapes and carefully move each shape onto a parchment covered cookie sheet
- Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the bottom is light brown and the cookies are puffy on top (the cooking time will depend upon how thick you have cut them)
- For really big, fat gingerbread men, leave dough about 1/2 inch thick (much thinner for other cookies) and bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
- Ice with Orange Butter Icing
Instructions for the icing:
- Mix all of the above ingredients until well combined and the consistency of fondant or play dough
- Chill for 15 minutes
- Roll some thinly onto parchment paper, and refrigerate again for 10 to 20 minutes
- Cut into the same shape as the cookie, lay onto the cookie (you may need to brush the cookie with a bit of sugar water for the icing to adhere (it will depend upon the temperature in the room)
- Decorate the layer of icing on the cookie
Instructions for the Thermomix:
Instructions for the cookie:
- Scale sugar and room temperature shortening into the TM bowl; insert butterfly and cream for 2 minutes at speed 3-4 (shortening must be room temperature or the butterfly may be damaged)
- Scale molasses into TM bowl and add the egg; continue to cream mixture or 30 seconds at speed 3-4
- Add two teaspoons of soda to the sour milk
- Add one teaspoon of soda to the tablespoon of vinegar
- Add milk, vinegar, spices, and salt to the molasses and egg mixture in the TM bowl; combine for 10 seconds at speed 2-3
- Remove the butterfly; clean all ingredients off of it and place into the TM bowl
- Scale in 4 cups of the flour; combine slowly from speed 0-7, until just combined
- Move the batter into a bigger bowl to knead in the remaining flour
- Continue with the recipe above at number 7
Notes
I have actually done a taste test using all three kinds of molasses and the very best flavour, colour and texture was developed by using the darkest and most bitter molasses.