Gingerbread

Nothing says Christmas is just around the corner better than the smell of freshly baked gingerbread. As with most things, homemade gingerbread is far superior in taste and texture to the pre-made variety at the grocery store. Think crispy on the outside, yet tender on the inside. This is not a difficult recipe to make and you won't regret a second of the time you use to put this together! Best of all, it makes the most fantastic gingerbread houses if you have a mold (we got ours via Amazon; link to product will come later in the post) and is something the whole family can enjoy working on together!

Ingredients:

1 c. butter (2 sticks)
1/2 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. light corn syrup
1/3 c. molasses
1 1/2 Tbsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
4 c. flour

Oven temperature: 350 degrees
Baking time: 22 minutes

In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, syrup, and spices and mix for about 2 minutes, until well-combined. Add in the flour, mixing until the dough forms a ball.

Once the dough has combined, remove it from the mixing bowl, and shape it into a ball. Cut it into 4 equal pieces.  At this point, you can go ahead and press the dough onto a cookie sheet if you are baking a free-form kind of gingerbread, making sure that the dough is spread evenly across the baking pan.

However, you may choose to use a gingerbread mold, such as this one:

(It can be found on Amazon using this link here: http://www.amazon.com/Freshware-CB-700RD-Gingerbread-House-Silicone/dp/B003XT8HUK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1417310309&sr=8-2&keywords=ginger+bread+house+mold)

If you are using the above mold, or one similar to it, go ahead and prepare to cut the dough a bit further. You'll take 3 of the 4 pieces you've already cut and divide them in half once again, leaving you with 6 smaller dough balls and one larger one; the one you didn't cut. Using the remaining original piece of dough, roll it into another ball and cut it into 4 pieces. You'll then take these 4 pieces and add them to 4 of the 6 balls of dough you had already set aside. Keep track of which 2 sections of dough you did NOT add the extra dough to--these will be the smaller areas of dough that you will use to make up the side walls of the gingerbread house.

Simply press the dough firmly into the mold, making sure the dough is pressed in evenly and is flat on top. You may have a little bit of dough left over, which is fine. Place the silicone molds on a cookie sheet to make the transfer from the counter to the oven (and back) easier. Place one cookie sheet on the upper oven rack, and one on the lower rack. **Bake for 11 minutes, then switch the sheets so that the bottom one is now on the top rack and vice versa. Continue to bake for 11 more minutes.

Once the 22 minutes are up, go ahead and remove the gingerbread from the oven and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring it from the mold directly to a cooling rack.

As the dough cools, it will become firm on the outside, yet remain nice and soft on the inside. Once the gingerbread is fully cooled off, you can go ahead and build it as a house, using my delicious frosting as glue.

Have a blast putting this together with family and friends!