Homemade Gingerbread House cookies
 
 
The perfect christmas tradition of making gingerbread cookies is complete with this spice loaded homemade gingerbread cookies recipe with tips and tricks to get them perfect. Template for your own gingerbread cookie houses included.
Author:
Recipe type: Cookies
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 3 cups (385 gms) all purpose flour/maida
  • 2 tsp mixed spices ( I have a ground cake spice mix of cloves, all spice, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, star anise, but in case you do not then use ¼ tsp ground cloves, ¼ tsp all spice, a pinch nutmeg - you could also use garam masala but use only ½-1 tsp since that is generally stronger )
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger (I like a gingery taste, but if you would prefer it slightly milder then you could use 2 tsp ground ginger)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ¾ tsp baking soda
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup molasses
  • 85 gms brown sugar
  • 125 gms butter, softened
  • Zest of 1 small orange (optional)
  • 1-2 tbsp milk (as requiredl)
Instructions
  1. In a bowl whisk the dry ingredients- flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, spices.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar in another bowl till its light and fluffy, around 5 minutes.
  3. Add the egg, molasses, vanilla and the zest. Mix it thoroughly, scraping the sides.
  4. Add in the flour mix and fold everything together. If the mixture is too crumbly add 1-2 tbsp of milk. Start with 1 tbsp and add another if required. The mixture should be firm, but should also not crumble when rolling out.
  5. Divide the dough into two halves. Wrap in clingwrap or beeswax paper. Let the dough rest for 1-2 hours. If its too warm then you can let it rest in the refrigerator. In winters, I let the dough rest on the counter, as its cool enough outside too. That ways its the perfect temperature to roll the dough out as opposed to straight out of the fridge.
  6. Once ready to roll, take two long pieces of parchment paper. With the help of chopsticks on either side roll the dough out a uniform thickness. I roll it to ¼ inch thick.
  7. Place your template on the rolled out sheet. Using a small knife, carefully cut the dough into the gingerbread house template shapes. Place on a parchment lined baking tray. Chill the cut out shapes for another 30 minutes to chill the dough out. In winters you could directly bake them, but if I have time I like the added reassurance of a chilled dough especially when it comes to shaped cookies.
  8. Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F.
  9. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or till edges are lightly browned. Depending on the thickness and size of your cookies, you might need to adjust the baking time.
  10. Remove from the oven and allow shapes to cool completely on the baking sheets, before transferring to a wire rack.
  11. Decorate as you like.
Recipe by The Novice Housewife at https://novicehousewife.com/2020/12/24/homemade-gingerbread-house-cookies/