Gingies

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NOTE: This recipe was developed by someone who posted it somewhere on the
internet.  As usual, I saved this recipe long before I intended to post it here, and did not
get the name of the creator.  Thank you to them for sharing this for everyone to enjoy.
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These are my famous gingerbread cookies. I have only been using this recipe
for a few years. Before that we used a typical gingerbread cookie recipe.
Those cookies could have been used as weapons that were so tough and hard.
They were much maligned and joked about every year. I went on a quest to find
flavorful gingerbread cut out cookies that were softer. Through a lot of
experimenting I came up with these cookies. I can pretty much guarantee that
these will be the best gingerbread cookies you will ever try.
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3/4 cup unsalted softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
3 1/4 cups flour
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In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in the
molasses and water. In a medium bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, stirring constantly.
Divide the dough in half and flatten to a round disk. Wrap each disk in
plastic wrap and chill overnight. (You can freeze half or all of it if desired
for later use.) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and lightly grease your cookie
sheets. On a lightly floured surface roll out one of the disks, leaving the
other chilled. Roll to a 1/4 inch thickness, adding more flour if needed. Cut
the cookies into desired shapes and place about an inch apart on the prepared
cookie sheets. Bake for 6-10 minutes depending on the size of the cookies.
Cookies should be firm but not browned. Re-roll the scraps and continue to cut
and bake until the dough is gone. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets for
three minutes, then remove to wire racks to finish cooling. Frost if desired
with royal icing and let dry for 24 hours. Store in airtight containers.
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Royal Icing
I used to use egg whites in my icing, but because of health concerns have
switched to meringue powder. It is not terribly expensive and is worth the
piece of mind. It is very important not to over beat this icing as it can (and
will) break down. You can use the icing white, or tint it using paste food
colors. Liquid food colors tend not to work as well as paste, particularly in
a delicate recipe like icing.
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Royal Icing
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 large egg white or equivalent meringue powder
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon orange or vanilla extract
food coloring if desired
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In a large bowl beat the powdered sugar, egg white, cream of tartar, and
orange extract on medium high speed for 5 minutes. Check and see if you can
form peaks with a teaspoon. If you cannot, beat at a higher speed for a minute
more and check again. Beat and check at thirty second intervals until the
peaks will form. Tint icing with food coloring if desired
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