Light & Delicious Gingerbread Cookies

I've always liked the idea of gingerbread cookies but never cared much for actual gingerbread cookies - they always taste heavy with molasses and too strongly spiced with cloves for my liking.  When Rebecca asked me to make cookies for her kindergarten class (after a minor baking cataclysm deprived them of cookies the week before) I went on the prowl for a recipe that might make cookies that tasted delicious instead of like somebody working in the clove industry came up with them.

Using the awesome snowflake cutter the Fords bought us, long ago

 

2 large ginger-men, a snowflake, and a S for Sydney!

 

Final product.  A delicious, unique, and beautiful snowflake.

Dry Team:
3 cups all purpose flour (plus additional for work surface / rolling pin / etc.)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Wet Team:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses

whisk together the dry team in a mixing bowl and set aside.  In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until well combined.  Add the molasses and continue mixing until thoroughly integrated.  Working in batches, add the dry team and stir together on low until all ingredients are mixed.  You may need to add a couple of tablespoons of water if the dough is having trouble coming together.  Cover the dough and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Working on a well floured surface, roll the dough out to ~1/4 inch thickness and cut into your desired shapes.  Bake for 7-10 minutes and allow to cool before decorating (or devour, warm, as is.)  Makes ~30 small ginger-men or about 36 small cookies.

The cookies taste almost bland at first but have a wonderful gingery taste with a hint of clove and cinnamon in harmony.  They received universal acclaim in our household, as well as in Rebecca's classroom.