The Eleventh Day of Christmas Cookies: Gingerbread Men (America's Test Kitchen)

I’m a sucker for just about any cookie, but especially gingerbread men. In fact, if they’re soft (but not too soft), relatively thick, and have a healthy amount of icing, they’re all but irresistible.

I can’t say I’ve done a ton of experimenting with various gingerbread recipes, but I like this one from America’s Test Kitchen.

Gingerbread Cookies (America’s Test Kitchen)

3        cups all-purpose flour

3/4    cup packed dark brown sugar

1         tablespoon cinnamon

1        tablespoon ginger

3/4    tablespoon baking soda

1/2    tablespoon cloves

1/2     teaspoon salt

12     tablespoons (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature, cut into 12 pieces

3/4    cup light molasses

2        tablespoons whole milk

Directions

1.              Process the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, cloves, and salt in a food processor until combined, about 10 seconds. Scatter the butter pieces over the top and, using short pulses, process to a very fine meal, about 15 pulses. With the machine running, slowly pour the molasses and milk through the feed tube and process until the dough forms a soft mass, about 10 seconds.

2.       Scrape the dough onto a counter and divide it in half (I like putting it directly onto a large piece of parchment paper – it’s a more containable mess). Working with ½ the dough at a time, roll it out a 1/8 thickness (here, again, I go for a bit thicker) between two large sheets of parchment paper. [I like to fold over the parchment paper on top of the dough before rolling it – then I don’t have to worry about the dough sticking to the rolling pin.] Slide the rolled dough and parchment onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes.

3.              Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut shapes out of the rolled dough using cookie cutters and lay on two parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced about 3/4  inch apart. Bake until the cookies are light golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating and switching the baking sheets halfway through baking.

4.            Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes. When cooled, glaze, decorate (and eat).