Gingerbread Snowflakes

Ingredients

Dry

  • 280g (2 cups + 2 tbsp) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 112 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 112 tsp baking soda
  • 12 tsp fine salt
  • 14 tsp ground cloves
  • 18 tsp ground black pepper (optional)
  • 18 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Wet

  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 23 cup white sugar
  • 12 cup molasses
  • 12 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 2/3 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Icing

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ~4 tsp water

Method

Prep

  • Bring butter to room temperature
  • Chop the crystallized ginger

Make the dough

  • In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients
  • In a medium mixing bowl using a stiff spatula, cream together the softened butter and sugar
    • Add the molasses, vanilla, and egg and whisk together until well combined
    • Dump in dry ingredients and smear together using the spatula
  • Transfer the dough to piece of plastic wrap, and create a loaf about 1” high by 4” wide
  • Refrigerate for ~an hour

Make the cookies

  • Cut loaf into 3/8” slices
  • Cut each slice in half
  • Cut each half into 3 strips (cut the long way)
  • Form the 3 slices into tubes that have tapered ends
  • Form the strips into a star pattern on a silicone lined baking sheet in a 3-2-3 layout
  • Bake at 350 for ~12 minutes

Decorate

  • Make the icing
  • transfer to a piping bag with a very small round tip

References

Notes

  • Change: add 2/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger
  • change 2/3 cup sugar to 1/2 cup