Making Gingerbread Cookies!

Happy first day of winter!

We made gingerbread cookies this morning. I tried to find a relatively "healthy" recipe for our gingerbread boys, girls and babies. The recipe that we used is shown below. We made the dough yesterday afternoon and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. Grace and Jack made the gingerbread cookies while Eve was taking her morning nap (since the dough had raw egg in it I did not have Eve help this morning). However, Eve did a great job helping to make the dough yesterday. Eve especially loved the smell and a little taste of the ginger -- she's a little spice girl!

Ingredients:

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup oil (we used olive oil)

1 cup sugar (we used much less)

1 large egg

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 cup molasses (We used Blackstrap molasses since it is healthier than light or dark molasses. Blackstrap is an excellent source of iron, calcium, vitamin B and E and manganese.)

Directions:

1. Whisk whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a large bowl. Beat butter, oil and sugar in another large bowl with a mixer until creamy. Add egg, molasses and vinegar; beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine. The dough will be very soft. Divide the dough into four equal portions, wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least two hours or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover several baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Working with one portion of dough at a time, on a floured surface, roll the dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut cookies using cookie cutters. Gather scraps and reroll. Using a spatula, place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough.

4. Bake the cookies, one batch at a time, until puffed but still soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Grace and Jack were very excited to put a lucky gingerbread boy and girl into their beautiful gingerbread houses that they made and decorated over the weekend! :)