Maple Gingerbread Cutout Cookies

Yield: about 5 dozen cookies
Recipe: 100/200
“Back to Baking”, pp. 48                                                  

    I have actually (and surprisingly!) never made gingerbread cookies, so I thought that there would be no better dessert to bring at work for the last day before the holidays than these cute gingerbread cookies. The recipe was easy to follow and I took pleasure in rolling out the dough and cutting out cute shapes to make the cookies – I had gingerbread man, tree and snowman cookie cutters. I had never used royal icing to frost any cookies or cakes, and I thoroughly enjoyed decorating the cookies with icing and sugar pieces. Decorating anything, whether it be cakes, cupcakes and now cookies, has always been my favourite part of making dessert! At first try I found that these cookies were mild and did not taste a lot like maple or even ginger, but after the second and third cookies I realized that these are simply a milder-tasting version of the traditional molasses gingerbread cookies but still taste good. These cute gingerbread cookies would please anyone during this merry time of the year. Happy holidays and happy baking!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 2  1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat the butter with the brown sugar and maple syrup until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in the egg, ginger and lemon zest. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, allspice, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine.
4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three separate additions while mixing at low speed. Separate the dough in three balls and wrap them in plastic wrap to form three discs. Chill until firm, about 2 hours. Note: The dough will be very soft.
5. Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the first piece of cookie dough to 1/8 inch thick and cut with a cookie cutter of any desired shape. Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking trays, leaving a gap of ½ inch between them. Repeat rolling and cutting the remaining two discs. Leftover scraps from cutting out the cookies can be wrapped up and chilled in the fridge for another 10 minutes before being rerolled.
7. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool the cookies on the trays before transferring them to an airtight container. The cookies can be decorated with icing or simply dusted with icing sugar, as desired.

Notes from Anna:

• The maple adds some sweetness to the cookies, which are milder than traditional molasses gingerbread cookies.

Valerie