Art in My Kitchen: Gingerbread Men

» This recipe makes spicy, stiff little gingerbread men. If you're looking for those giant fluffy sort of gingerbread cookies, find one of those recipes with sour cream in them. These are crispy and delicious, and the perfect little cookie to satisfy that need for a bit of Christmas sweet. This recipe comes from a selection my mom got out of the newspaper a while ago that starts with a base which can be edited to any of 12 classic cookies. So far they have all been amazing, which I credit to the use of actual butter instead of Crisco or margarine. I'll most likely be posting more of these delicious cookies at a later time. But for now, enjoy the gingerbread.

Gingerbread Men
Chills for 2 hours - Makes 42 3-inch men

Ingredients:
» 2 3/4 c. flour
» 1/2 t. baking soda
» 1/4 t. salt
» 2 t. cinnamon
» 2 t. ginger
» 1/2 t. nutmeg
» 1/4 t. cloves
» 1/2 c. butter, softened
» 3/4 c. dark brown sugar
» 1 egg
» 1 t. vanilla
» 1/4 c. dark molasses

Preparation:
» Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
» With an electric mixer on medium speed, combine butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, then molasses. (Oh gosh, I love molasses!) Beat until well-mixed.
» Reduce to a low speed and gradually add flour mixture until just blended. This is where having a stand-up mixer comes in quite handy. It's so much easier to add in a mixture when you're not dealing with just one hand!
» Split dough into three discs, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Chill for at least 2 hours. I made the dough the night before, and chilled it all night. When I went to roll it out it was surprisingly easy to work with.
» After the dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350°. Remove one disc from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin. I'm not great with inches, but I'd say about a quarter inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to make lots of happy little ginger-buddies. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until just browned around the edges.
» Feel free to add red hots before baking, or use icing for decoration. Just be careful not to use last year's red hots, as they might create these sort of ginger-creatures: