Gingerbread Cookies

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CLASSIC FOR A REASON

A good gingerbread cookie recipe goes deep and doesn't spare the spices.

BY JAMES NORTON

James Norton/Heavy Table

Gingerbread cookies are Christmas staples to the point of being an edible cliche. Yet despite the way they hog the holiday limelight, they are - like pizza or hamburgers - a simple food that everyone knows that can be interpreted in dozens of good, bad, and bizarre ways.

Gingerbread cookies are one of the least predictable cookies on the whole holiday cookie platter - they can be thick or thin, crispy or chewy, iced or bare, sprinkled or non, barely spiced or deeply gingered. And depending on what incarnation of gingerbread cookies you've tried (or even made) in the past, you can be forgiven for thinking these things aren't really worth the hype or the effort. The number of disappointing gingerbread cookies I've tasted far outweighs the good ones.

The good ones have a complex texture - crispy edges, and chewy interiors. They're thick enough to have three distinct dimensions, they're covered with royal icing (to soften the top and play against the flavor of the cookies themselves), and they're aggressively spiced so that the cookies themselves don't lose the flavor showdown with the icing and sprinkles that make them look so unapologetically festive.

What follows is my family's method for gingerbread cookies, something I encourage you to tackle on any given holiday afternoon when you've got the time (a few hours) and endurance. One recipe makes about a million calories' worth of cookies - plenty to share with friends while retaining a stash for your own enjoyment.

A few notes:

1] The royal icing is not an optional part of this recipe, it's critical. It's a perfect balance to the almost savory spice-forward nature of these cookies, and it helps soften them up and give them an almost buttery texture after they initially cure.

2] You can absolutely decorate these carefully and thoughtfully, but my family has small children and I don't really stand on ceremony, so all of these pictures show them decorated in a joyfully slapdash manner. As my five-year-old daughter said, mid-decorating:

“The fun part about cookies is that they never look perfect but they always look great!”

3] These cookies are really delicious, and substantial, and can even substitute for a mid-afternoon snack or breakfast in a pinch. But under no circumstances should you just lean into them and eat a half-dozen. The combination of molasses and sugar is a wrecking ball at large volumes.

1.Rolling out the dough to a consistent 1/4" thickness is important, so keep your eye on that ball. Too thick can be fixed with a longer cook time (although your edges may get pretty crispy) but too thin kind of ruins these cookies overall - you want some depth so your texture varies and there's something for the icing to interact with.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES ALA GRANDMA NORTON

Makes many many cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup dark molasses
2 Tbsp vinegar
5 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. powdered ginger
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Whisk together dry ingredients in bowl.

Cream butter in stand mixer, add sugar gradually. Beat in egg, molasses, vinegar. Blend in the dry ingredients.

Chill dough for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Roll to about 1/4 inch thick on lightly floured surface and cut into festive shapes.

Place on lightly greased or sil-patted baking sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly browned around the edges. Cool on wire rack before icing and decorating.4

ROYAL ICING

2 egg whites
2.5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup

Beat egg whites until they hold a soft peak.
Add sugar gradually until dissolved and frosting stands in peaks.
Add light corn syrup, beat one minute.
Keep well covered so it doesn’t dry out.
Frost and decorate gingerbread cookies.
Let frosted, decorated cookies cure and dry for 1-3 hours on table.