How is there only a WEEK left until Christmas?? I don’t know what happened but I feel like the holiday rushed up on us this year. I still have presents to buy and a bunch of things to get done before then! Plus there’s fun obligatory holiday activities to do. I want to make a gingerbread house with Ashley this weekend, but I wanted to do some fun cookie decorating before then. So these snowflakes were born!
The great thing about these cookies is that they’re so pretty but don’t require a lot of time, fancy ingredients or equipment. If you wanted to you could have a lot of fun adding to this idea by using colored icing, icing glitter, or even edible pearls. Gingerbread cookies are like a blank canvas!
- Cookies
- 1/2 c. butter, softened
- 1/2 c. dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1/3 c. molasses
- 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 2 t. ground ginger
- 1 t. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 t. salt
- Icing
- 4 T. Earth Balance buttery spread (or butter)
- 1/2 t. vanilla
- 2 1/2 T. milk
- 2 c. powdered sugar
- Beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed in an electric mixer until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
- Add in the egg, vanilla, and molasses and continue to mix until very smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until a soft dough forms.
- Cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Roll out chilled dough on a floured surface to about 1/8″ thick. Cut into desired shapes and bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are firm to the touch.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a minute before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- When the cookies are cool, heat the buttery spread/butter, vanilla, and milk over medium heat until the butter is melted completely.
- Remove the liquid from the heat and whisk the powdered sugar into it vigorously to make a smooth icing. If the icing isn’t thick enough to decorate with, add more powdered sugar.
- Pour icing into a ziploc bag and cut a small hole into the corner of the bag. Decorate the cookies as desired using the cut bag of icing. The icing will harden when it dries.
You can use this same recipe for the cookies and the icing to make gingerbread men or even a gingerbread house! The sky’s the limit.
Baker’s secret: shredded coconut makes pretty fun looking “snow” for holiday treats! I used it in these pictures just for fun, but it would be perfect for the yard or roof of a gingerbread house. 🙂
-Lauren
4 Responses
Rachel
Lauren! I LOVE THIS IDEA! I have never commented, I normally read on feedly.
My family’s Christmas celebration has been delayed until New Year’s Day due to scheduling conflicts. I think this would be a great treat to bring to the belated Christmas party. These are still winterey, but not too specifically ‘Christmas-ey’. They are especially good for my family because my mom & sister hate chocolate! Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.
Keep it up, I love your blog!
Lauren @ Dash of Soul
Hi Rachel! Thanks so much for coming out to comment, it makes my day! 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful New Year’s Day celebration! 🙂
Matt @ Runner Savvy
I love this!
Lauren
These are CRAZY BEAUTIFUL!