Ultra rich, soft, gingerbread that can be dropped and baked or cut into cute shapes. I've never been so happy to eat a gingerbread cookie before. This recipe took days and days to get right and endless tweaking but totally worth it. Melted butter and evaporated milk are two secrets that give this dough a nice chew and softness along with almost double the spice quantity of the traditional recipes for extra flavor.
Note: it is best to let this dough chill overnight for the flour to absorb the liquid and for flavor to develop further. However, if you don't have 8 hours, 1 hour is sufficient for a roll-able dough.
Yield: 24 Gingerbread cookies
Ingredients:
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground cloves
3 teaspoons of ground ginger
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 tsp of ground allspice
1 1/2 tablespoons of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 sticks of melted and cooled sweet-cream and unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups of packed dark brown sugar
1 whole egg
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1/4 cup of molasses
2 tablespoons of evaporated milk
For the Glaze
1/2 cup of eggnog (with or without liquer)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
3 tablespoons of melted butter
3 cups of confectioner's sugar
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Begin by combining the flour, spices, salt, and baking sodia in a medium sized bowl with a whisk. Set the dry mix aside.
Melt the butter in a sauce pan and allow it to cool until it is no longer hot to the touch. Pour the butter in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment and add the brown sugar. Beat a medium speed until the mixture becomes fluffy and increases in volume. Be sure to scrape down the mixing bowl in between adding ingredients. Add the egg and vanilla while the mixer is going. Add the molasses and the evaporated milk.
When the mixture is well combined, begin adding in the dry ingredients one scoop at a time. This allows the gluten to develope gradually and improves the texture of the cookie. Once all the dry mix is added, continue to mix, scrapping the sides of the bowl until everything is well combined.
Pour the dough out onto a sheet of platic wrap and wrap it tightly, and put it into a sealed ziploc bag. This ensures that your dough will not dry out in the fridge, which can happen if there's holes in the plastic wrapping.
Allow the dough to chill for 8 hours. A minimum of one hour is essentially if you need to bake it sooner, as the dough needs to chill enough to be shaped.
When you are ready to bake, make the glaze by combining all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix with a small whisk to break up any lumps of powdered sugar and set aside. This makes quite a bit of glaze, and you'll likely have a lot left over. Feel free to scale this recipe to half.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
See my sugar cookie post for tips on how to cut cookies perfectly. Cut out shapes or roll dough into 2" balls and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet or silicone mat. Bake for approximately 10 minutes for a softer cookie, any longer will result in a crispier texture. Let cookies cool completely before glazing or decorating, otherwise icing will slide off. As always, store in an airtight contianer to prevent drying and to keep them softer longer.
Cookie dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days or up to 1 month frozen.