Painting Gingerbread Cookies – Terilyn Taylor
Good Housekeeping December 1999
Gingerbread Cookies
1 t baking soda
1 C molasses
1 C butter (2 sticks) softened. No substitutions.
1 C sugar
2 t ground ginger
½ t salt
1 large egg
5 C all purpose flour
Preheat oven 375 degrees.
In cup, stir baking soda into molasses; set-aside until pale brown and frothy.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat butter with sugar, ginger, and salt until creamy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. At low speed, beat in molasses mixture and egg. It may look curdled. Gradually add 4 ¾ C flour; beat until just blended, occasionally scraping bowl.
On lightly floured surface, knead dough until thoroughly mixed, kneading in remaining ¼ cups of flour if necessary. Divide dough in half; wrap half of dough with plastic wrap and set aside.
On floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll remaining half of dough slightly thinner than ¼ inch. With floured 3- to 4-inch assorted cookie cutters, cut dough into as many cookies as possible; reserve trimmings. Place cookies, ½ inch apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet. Re-roll trimmings and cut out more cookies.
Bake cookies 8-10 minutes, until edges begin to brown. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.
When cookies are cook, prepare Ornamental Frosting: use to decorate cookies as desired. Allow frosting to dry completely, about 1 hour. Store cookies in tightly covered container up to 2 weeks.
Makes about 6 dozen cookies.
Ornamental Frosting
1 package of confectioners’ sugar (16 ounces)
3 T meringue powder
Assorted food coloring (color pastes are the best)
In a bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and 1/3 cup warm water until blended and mixture is stiff enough that a knife drawn through it leaves a clean cut path. (About 5 minutes)
Tint frosting with food coloring as desired. Keep covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Makes about 3 cups.
Make 2 batches of Ornamental Frosting. Divide frosting among several small bowls. Tint frosting in each bowl using food color paste. Start with small amount of coloring and gradually add more if necessary, using toothpick to mix it in. Keep bowl covered with plastic wrap to prevent icing from drying out.
Draw outlines of your design on the cookie, using a pencil if you don’t plan to eat it, thinned food colorings if you do. Paint background colors first, using an artist’s brush and frosting thinned with water to the consistency of think paint. Or outline the edges first, using a disposable pastry bag (or self sealing plastic bag with a corner cut off) filled with each color of frosting, then fill in the interior spaces, using slightly thinned frosting and an artist’s brush. (Prop the bag into a glass to make ti easier to fill-about half way is enough- or it will be hard to control.) Pipe on details using a pastry bag.
Whatever method you follow, let frosting dry between each stage of decorating to prevent colors from running together.
After frosting is completely dry, wrap cookies in plastic wrap or between paper towels and store in an airtight container if not using right away.
Christmas Tree Ornaments
Make a hole in the top of each cookie. String a fishing line through the hole, make a loop so cookie can be hung on tree.
