Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Men

What says Christmas better than a cheery little gingerbread man? Be-deckled with edible jewels and painted with a benign, frosting smile; he bades any passers-by to stop and nibble at his tender, spicy flesh. The perfect gingerbread man should be soft and chewy, his appendages slowly drooping as you hold him across your palm. No crispy, crunchy, cardboard gingerbread men here. Those over-baked samples belong on the Christmas tree, not in the mouth.

He should be decorated with bright white icing and sparingly adorned with buttons. His smile should be inviting and simple. Not too much goes on in a gingerbread brain. As your bite sinks into a foot, an arm or maybe even his noggin, your mouth should fill with the heady aroma of cinnamon, cloves and ginger.

Granted, gingerbread men are not terribly easy to make. And this recipe, with its super sticky dough (using only molasses and 2 T. of milk as a liquid!) requires freezing to ensure that you are even able to cut them out. And then there's all the icing and decorating that has to go on. But, really, its only once a year, right? And if you are going to put in all that effort, they had better be good! When those delicious little ginger-men disappear one-by-one into the mouths of delighted little kids and maybe even a few into your own, you will have that satisfied feeling that it really was worth it all.

Gingerbread Men

Makes 20-24 men.

3 cups flour

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 T. ground cinnamon

1 T. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

12 T. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened, but still cool, and cut into 12 pieces

3/4 cup molasses

2 T. milk

Mix together, in bowl of standing mixer, the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.

Add the butter pieces and mix on medium-low until mixture resembles wet sand, about 1 1/2 minutes.

With mixer on low, add the molasses and milk.

 Mix until just incorporated.

Cut 4 large pieces of parchment paper. Spoon half the dough onto one of the pieces of parchment.

Layer a second piece of parchment on top of the dough and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness.

Repeat with other half of the dough and remaining two pieces of parchment paper.

Place on a large sheet pan and pop in the freezer for 20 minutes. You can preheat your oven to 350 during this time. 

This really helps because the dough is so wet and sticky. It's hard to manage unless it's cold.

Remove one of the sheets of dough from the freezer. Peel back the top layer of parchment and then lay back in place. Flip and remove other piece of parchment. 

Working quickly, before the dough gets warm, cut out your gingerbread men.

You will get five to six 5" men out of one sheet of dough.

Remove the scraps...

...and move the men to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with second batch of frozen dough.

Bake for 8 - 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Don't overbake or your men will be crispy! Remove from oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. Then cool completely on a wire rack. 

Gather the scraps and repeat process (rolling out between parchment, freezing, cutting out and baking) until dough is gone.  

When the gingerbread men are completely cool, decorate with icing and your favorite candies.

Icing

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

A few T. of milk or cream

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Pinch of salt

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Add enough milk or cream to create a thick icing. Don't add too much liquid or your icing will be too soft and will spread on the cookie.

If you have decorator's bags and tips, use those, otherwise, you can just put the icing in a plastic baggie and cut off a corner (just a little bit!)

Then decorate using your favorite design and candies!

Let icing harden for an hour or so before storing.

Aren't they cheery?

Your gingerbread men should keep up to a week in an airtight container. 

This recipe is from Baker's Illustrated.