Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies

3/4 cup butter  
3/4 cup packed brown sugar  
1 egg  
1/2 cup molasses  
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups flour  
1 teaspoon baking soda  
1 teaspoon ginger  
1/2 teaspoon salt  
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon  
1/2 teaspoon cloves


Mix all dry ingredients in separate measuring cup or bowl. 

Beat butter and sugar together on medium speed until creamy. Add egg until well blended, then mix in molasses and vanilla. Set aside. 

Gradually beat the flour mixture into the sugar mixture on low speed until it is all well blended and a soft, crumbly dough forms. Divide dough into three balls; wrap each ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (approx. 2 hours).

Roll out dough with a little flour and cut with cookie cutters.

Bake 10-11 minutes at 350 degrees F. For softer cookies do not over bake. Let stand one minute and then cool on a cooling rack. 

Decorate as desired.

For White Icing:

2 egg whites  
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar  
2 cups powdered sugar

Beat eggs and cream of tartar with mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until icing is stiff. 

This icing can be used a "glue" for gingerbread houses and looks great piped onto the cookies. It is also very forgiving. If you make a mistake on your cookie give the icing a second or two to harden and then it can be easily removed with a toothpick.

One of the things we did with the cookies before baking them was to decorate them with extra dough. For example, we made little dough buttons, eyes and mouths and stuck them on the cookie. We squeezed dough through a garlic press to make hair. It gave the cookie a neat look and then after it was baked we used the icing to highlight these added extras. You could just go with plain icing but the Decorating With Dough was my children's favorite part.