This recipe comes from my family cookbook and is noted as being of my Aunt Debbie’s origin. She made these quite regularly during the holidays when I was growing up and frequently I was allowed to help in the making. Her decorating scheme was usually raisin buttons and eyes. She also has a sense of humor and sent me a set of ABC (already been chewed) gingerbread men cookie cutters.
“Hmm… this one doesnt have a leg…”
So naturally when I had cookies to bake in late December/Start of January I turned to my ABC Gingerbread Men.
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- **OPTIONAL** Raisins for eyes and buttons OR assorted frostings
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC)
- Cream butter, sugar and molasses.
- Add egg and mix well
- Add dry ingredients and mix well.
- Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface and and cut out.
- **OPTIONAL** Decorate with your raisin eyes and buttons
- Bake 8-10 minutes at 350ºF
- Let cool on baking sheet for a couple minutes, then move to wire rack to cool completely
- **Optional** Decorate with your frostings.
Disabled Gingerbread Men of America
I tried my best to decorate without making it obvious that the missing parts were intentionally missing. Sent them off in the new non-holiday cookiejar* with the curious question…. would geeky IT people eat cookies that looked like they had already been nibbled on?
Ben reported back that not only would his co-workers eat ABC gingerbread men, but that only one person made any comment on their poor condition. “This one is missing a leg…. I guess that means I’ll just have to take another!”
TIP: For my “frosting” I used Wilton’s Candy Melts so they would set up a bit stiffer and not smudge in my cookiejar.
PS: The everyday cookiejar was a pick up from The Container Store
A Year of Cookies 
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