Gingerbread Snowflakes

Now that Christmas is approaching, I love holiday baking with fragrant spices. These gingerbread snowflakes are my favorite holiday cookies. I also give them as gifts every year since they look so lovely decorated with royal icing, white sanding sugar, and silver dragées.

Gingerbread Snowflake Recipe

{Adapted from Martha Stewart}

Cookies

6 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

4 tsp. ground ginger

4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1½ tsp. ground cloves

¾ tsp. black pepper

1½ tsp. salt

2 large eggs

1 cup unsulfured molasses

Sanding sugar or dragées, for decoration

Royal Icing

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Water

For the cookies, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl; set aside. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add spices, pepper, salt, eggs, and molasses. Mix until combined. Add flour mixture 2 cups at a time, mixing until each addition is incorporated. Wrap dough in plastic, and chill for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Dust surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll dough to ¼ inch thick {so the cookies will stay chewy}. Cut with snowflake cutters, and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes. Let cool completely.

For the royal icing, in a small bowl, mix confectioners’ sugar and water {about ¼-½ cup} with a spoon to reach desired consistency. Place in pastry bag with a small round tip or fill plastic bag and cut off corner. Pipe edges with thick icing to create a border. Then, add more water to the icing to fill in the center {it should be runny to create a smooth surface}. Sprinkle with sanding sugar or silver dragées. Voilà, cookies almost too good to eat, but you will.