I have already confessed that I love Starbucks’s Peppermint Mochas, but I have one more confession I have to get off my chest: I don’t care about sugar cookies. I don’t care to make them, to eat them, to decorate them. I just don’t care!
I appreciate that some people have built entire careers making and decorating absolutely gorgeous sugar cookies that lots of people love to eat. To all of them I say, I love that for you! I am just sure enough to finally state my opinion that sugar cookies are not worth the labor. The return on investment, for me, is not there.
Whew! The Christmas confessions are feeling great! Now read this recipe for gingerbread cookies which require a similar if not entirely equal amount of labor as sugar cookies—ha! The crucial difference—again, for me—is that gingerbread is delicious. It’s spicy and bittersweet and chewy but still sturdy. Each bite brings more to the table than just a tongue coated with sugar. There’s a depth of flavor, and one bite might carry an extra bite of black peppercorn while the next accentuates more of the melody of all the spices. For me, these are a holiday must, and I don’t mind spending a little extra time frosting them.
Feel free to roast me for my sugar cookie opinion, but also try these gingerbread! Just two more days of cookies, friends! Until tomorrow—love you <3
GINGERBREAD with MAPLE BUTTERCREAM
Makes roughly 36 cookies (depending on the size you choose)
Cookies:
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon cinnamon
¾ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed, room temperature
¾ cup molasses
1 egg
Frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3 ½ cups powdered sugar
⅓ cup maple syrup
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Make the cookies:
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, add the flour, both sugars, baking soda, salt, and all of the spices. Mix on a low speed until combined, just a minute or two.
Add the butter cubes all at once and mix on low until the mixture looks like sand or cornmeal. This is called reverse creaming, it’s going to help keep the dough tender but stable. It shouldn’t take too long to get to a sandy consistency, maybe 3 minutes.
Now add the molasses and mix on low until just combined and then finally the egg. Mix until a crumbly dough starts to come together and there are no more dry streaks.
Lay some plastic wrap on your work surface and dump the dough out on top. Press the dough out into a rectangle about an inch and a half thick. Wrap this well and chill it for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two sheet trays with parchment paper.
Using a light dusting of flour on your work surface and rolling pin, roll out your dough to roughly ¼” thick (the thicker the cookie, the chewier the texture will be after baking. If you prefer crisper cookies, shoot for ⅛” thick). Cut desired shapes and line them up on your prepared pans, leaving about an inch in between.
Bake the cookies for 8-12 minutes or until the edges start to turn slightly darker in color and the dough looks set in the middle. Let them cool on the pans for 2-ish minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool (if you’re using wire racks).
While you’re baking the first batch, finish cutting out the other cookies and keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to bake them. You can reroll the dough twice before I suggest calling it quits because you don’t want too much flour added to the dough.
Make the frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until it becomes creamy. This should only take a couple of minutes.
Add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time and mix on medium speed after each addition. Let it go for a couple minutes each time so that some air starts to incorporate.
Now, add the maple syrup, vanilla and salt and let the mixture go on a medium speed for another several minutes until the mixture is creamy and light. If it feels stiff to you, like paste instead of fluffy frosting, you can add a tablespoon of milk or cream and mix that in until the consistency feels sturdy but soft.
From here, you can frost as is—which I will do in the future—or divide the frosting up to make holiday colors. I split the frosting into three this time to make green, red & white frosting, but my favorite versions ended up being the natural off-white shade with Christmas sprinkles. If you do split them up, keep the surfaces of the frosting covered with plastic wrap because it will harden at the edges.
Frost your cookies and eat the ones you think are ugly, as I do, and let the others harden on the surface before wrapping well and either freezing for a couple months or keeping on the counter for 5-ish days.
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