Monday, November 30, 2009

Gingerbread Stars


Jacob has recently become aware of the star shape. He finds stars everywhere and points to them waiting for me to call their name.
My mom suggested that I make him star shaped cookies. I am always eager for any excuse to make cookies, so I was very excited about the idea.
I made a variation of a recipe for gingerbread men cookies I found in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. These were really good and they made our house smell like a life-sized gingerbread house. Jacob did not take the cookie away from his mouth while he ate it. He just kept chomping until it was gone. I think he noticed they were in the shape of stars, but , once he tasted them, he didn't care what shape they were.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teasp baking soda
1/4 teasp salt
1 1/4 teasp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teasp ground ginger
1 1/4 teasp ground allspice
1/4 teasp ground cloves
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, and cloves. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars together on medium until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses. With mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and shape into flattened disks. Wrap each in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough from refrigerator and let stand until slightly softened. On a large piece of parchment lightly dusted with flour, roll out dough to about 1/4" thick. Place parchment paper and dough on a baking sheet and freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes.
Remove dough from freezer. Working quickly, cut out dough with cookie cutters. Transfer cutouts to prepared baking sheets.
Bake until cookies are crisp but not darkened, 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

No comments:

Post a Comment