Another classic recipe from Grandma Waite and the Kiantone Church.  These are the best gingerbread cookies ever!  Rolled out thin, they are somehow crispy and soft at the same time, and have the perfect spiciness in the gingerbread.  Mom made these for Christmas and my brothers and I would do the decorating.  Now Jake and Eli help me.  Note how thin we roll the dough…

They still puff up to look like this:

Decorating cookies in our house is always a little imperfect.  The frosting is either a little too thick or a little too runny, the plastic bags we use for decorating at some point usually break; sometimes the gingerbread boys get a little smooshed or lose a leg trying to get onto the tray.  But we’ve learned that cookie cutters with less details make better cookies, and now we make bells, candy canes, trees, and angels along with our boys.   As far as the frosting, it’s still imperfect but we don’t mind that.  It’s just fun to decorate!  This year Jake and Eli went a little crazy with the red hots.

The only real “secret” to making these is just to roll them thin.  You can make the dough ahead of time and keep it in the freezer, which I usually do in October so it’s one less thing I have to worry about in December.  The dough is also perfect for gingerbread houses.  Because the recipe makes so much, I can make a whole batch of 24-30 cookies using just one fourth of the dough and use the remaining three fourths of the dough to make a gingerbread house.  If you make it all into cookies, you would have tons to give away, or maybe use for a cookie exchange :).

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

1/2 rounded cup of Crisco

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup dark molasses

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cloves

1 1/2 tsp soda

1 1/2 tsp ginger

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

About 4 cups of flour, plus more for rolling

1/2 cup sour milk

1.  Heat Oven to 375 Degrees

2.  Sift together flour, soda, salt, and spices.

3.  Cream together Crisco, brown sugar, and molasses.

4.  Add the dry ingredients alternately with the sour milk to the sugar/shortening mixture.

5.  (Freeze or refrigerate here if you want to)

6.  Roll out the dough to 1/8″ thickness, using extra flour as needed to prevent sticking.

7.  Bake on parchment-lined baking sheets for 7-9 minutes, or until set.

Decorate as desired with frosting and red hots.  These cookies freeze well after baking too.