Gingerbread Cookies “Worth Eating”

Thanks to Cook’s Illustrated for the title and the recipe. Simply said, the best gingerbread cookie recipe we’ve come across!

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened slightly
  • 3/4 cup molasses
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • Confectioner’s sugar and water for frosting/decorating

Directions

  1. In the bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda at low speed until combined, about 30 seconds.
  2. Stop mixer and add butter pieces; mix at medium-low speed until mixture is sandy and resembles fine meal, about 1 1/2 minutes.
  3. Reduce speed to low and, with mixer running, gradually add molasses and milk; mix until dough is evenly moistened, about 20 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix until thoroughly combined, about 10 seconds.
  4. Scrape dough onto work surface; divide in half. Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll 1/4-inch thick between two large sheets of parchment paper.
  5. Leaving dough sandwiched between parchment layers, stack on cookie sheet and freeze until firm, 15 to 20 minutes. (Alternatively, refrigerate dough 2 hours or overnight.)
  6. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  7. Remove one dough sheet from freezer; place on work surface. Peel off top parchment sheet and gently lay it back in place. Flip dough over; peel off and discard second parchment layer.
  8. Cut dough into 5-inch gingerbread people or 3-inch gingerbread cookies, transferring shapes to parchment-lined cookie sheets with wide metal spatula, spacing them 3/4 inch apart; set scraps aside. Repeat with remaining dough until cookie sheets are full.
  9. Bake cookies until set in centers and dough barely retains imprint when touched very gently with fingertip, 8 to 11 minutes, rotating cookie sheets front to back and switching positions top to bottom halfway through baking time. Do not overbake.
  10. Cool cookies on sheets 2 minutes, then remove with wide metal spatula to wire rack; cool to room temperature.
  11. Gather scraps; repeat rolling, cutting, and baking in steps 2 and 4. Repeat with remaining dough until all dough is used.
  12. Frost with a simple confectioner’s sugar/water mixture.

For thin, crisp cookies, follow the above recipe, but quarter rather than half the dough, roll each quarter 1/8 inch thick, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees, and bake about 15 to 20 minutes. (My kids prefer the chewy version, so I have not made these.)