All right. I have to post this because we just made such a cool gingerbread house! Follow this recipe exactly to make cookies. To make a house, you'll probably have to double the recipe (or more) decrease the baking soda, and bake it twice as long so it will get good and hard.
Have fun!
GINGERBREAD COOKIES
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
5 cups flour
Cream shortening and sugar; add egg, molasses and vinegar and beat until fluffy.
Beat in the soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
Mix in the flour by hand.
Refrigerate at least one hour.
Heat oven to 375.
Roll out dough to about 1/4-inch thick and cut out with cookie cutters.
Bake on very lightly greased cookie sheets for 5 to 6 minutes.
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
5 cups flour
Cream shortening and sugar; add egg, molasses and vinegar and beat until fluffy.
Beat in the soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
Mix in the flour by hand.
Refrigerate at least one hour.
Heat oven to 375.
Roll out dough to about 1/4-inch thick and cut out with cookie cutters.
Bake on very lightly greased cookie sheets for 5 to 6 minutes.
Cool and decorate as desired.
* For a gingerbread house: Roll the dough directly on lightly floured cookie sheets; cut out the patterns and remove excess dough. [I do not remove the dough from windows and doors before cooking—they will hold their shape if you cut them out, but leave the pieces in. While the pieces are still hot and fresh from the oven, re-cut them and remove them.]
Or you can fill the empty window spaces with crushed hard candy (like Jolly Ranchers) to make a stained glass effect, but you have to be careful not to burn your dough or the candy turns brown too.
Or, better yet, cook the house with the window-dough cut, but not removed. Remove the dough and let it cool. Now fill in the windows with home-made hard candy.
HARD CANDY
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2/3 cup corn syrup
flavoring
food color
Combine sugar, water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan.
Bring to a boil and cook until it reaches 300 degrees.
Add flavoring and coloring if desired. [I didn't do this, because I don't plan on eating our windows. Although maybe the kids do.]
While the syrup is still very hot, spoon it into your gingerbread house window spaces. Keep little kids away from this until it is completely cooled!
Now you can build your house! I just looked up "Gingerbread House Frosting Cement" online for a good glue recipe—it was easy to find.
Have fun!
