A Gift Worth Giving...and Receiving.

What kind of holiday gift giver are you?

Are you the homemade gift giver?
A baked with love gift giver?
or
A personal store bought gift giver?

or

Last minute-that'll do-throw it in the basket-procrastinating-giver?

According to Martha Stewart (a quiz on her website), I am a...

BIG-TIME BAKER!

These gingerbread snowflake cookies are my favorite treat to give during the holidays!
It all started a few years ago with the perfect cookie cutter...
Then I found the perfect cookie dough recipe...
With the perfect amount of decorating...

I can say perfect several times without sounding braggadocios because it is not my recipe.
It belongs to Martha.

(But I do have a tip...this freezes perfectly!  In fact, I usually spend one day making a variety of cookie dough, wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them to bake another day!)

So, without further ado... 

 

Gingerbread Snowflake Cookies

Ingredients

Makes 16 cookies
6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
4 teaspoons ground ginger
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon finely ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 large eggs
1 cup unsulfured molasses
Royal Icing
Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Set aside.
Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 1/4-inch thick. Cut into snowflakes with a 7- inch snowflake-shape cookie cutter. Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
Put icing in a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip (such as Ateco #7). Pipe designs on snowflakes; immediately sprinkle with sanding sugar. Let stand 5 minutes; tap off excess sugar. Let icing set completely at room temperature, about 1 hour. Store cookies between layers of parchment in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.