Chewy Gingerbread Men

I love cookies and chewy ones are my favorite.  This recipe is soooo easy to put together using the food processor.  The dough was wonderful to work with and the cookies turned out beautiful.  Nom nom nom.  I’ll take decorated chewy, thick and scrumptious gingerbread any day.

Chewy Gingerbread Men
yield 24 cookies, 3″

3 cups AP flour
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 Tb. cinnamon
1 Tb. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
12 Tbs./12 oz. unsalted butter, soft and cut up
3/4 cup molasses
2 Tbs. milk

Royal Icing (small amount for highlighting):

1.  With the steel blade in the food processor, mix the dry goods for 10 seconds: flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt.
2.  Remove the top of the food processor and scatter the butter.  Turn on the processor and run until the dough becomes fine crumbs.
3.  Turn the processor on and keep running while you add: molasses and milk.  About 10 seconds later, you should have dough.
4.  Roll to about .25″ thick and stick in the fridge for 4 hours+ or freezer.
5.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  When the dough is firm, cut out your cookies and put on a cookie sheet with parchment or silicone.  Or sprayed or greased.  Bake for 8-11 minutes**  This is greatly determined by the size of your cookie.  I made big ones and baby ones all the time and you just keep an eye on them.  Touch the dough with your fingertip and it will just barely keep its shape.  That means their done!  Cool on a rack.

Royal Icing (small batch!)

1 Tb. meringue powder
scant 1/8 cup cold water
4 oz. powdered sugar, sifted!

1.  In your mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the powder and water until foamy.
2.  On low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar.  Increase speed to high/medium-high until stiff peaks form.  Cover with plastic wrap touching the icing until ready to use.

I used a Wilton #2 tip.

Or Gingerbread Angry Birds

Recipe from Cook’s Illustrated