Gingerbread Men - I |
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½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature |
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In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer at high speed, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add molasses and egg yolk; beat until well blended. Add salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg; beat until well blended. Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into two disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.)
Preheat oven to 350º F.
To roll out the cookies, work with pieces of one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until just warm enough to roll out without cracking, about 10 minutes. Place the dough on a work surface dusted with confectioners sugar, and sprinkle the top of the dough with confectioners sugar and cover with waxed paper or plastic wrap. Roll out the dough ¼-inch thick, being sure that the dough isn't sticking to the work surface (run a long meal spatula or knife under the dough occasionally just to be sure, and dust the surface with more confectioners sugar, if needed). For softer cookies, roll out slightly thicker. Using gingerbread men cookie cutters, cut out the cookies and transfer to nonstick cookie sheets, placing the cookies 1 inch apart. Gently knead the scraps together and form into another disk. Wrap and chill for 5 minutes before rolling out again to cut out more cookies.
Bake in pre-heated oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire cake racks to cool completely. Decorate with Royal Icing. (The cookies can be prepared up to 1 week ahead, stored in airtight containers at room temperature.) Yield: 12 to 14 gingerbread men.
Royal Icing
¼ pound (1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons) confectioners sugar
½ Tablespoon dried egg-white powder
1½ Tablespoons water
Make ahead: The icing can prepared up to 2 days ahead, stored in an airtight container with a moist paper towel pressed directly on the icing surface, and refrigerated.
This icing hardens into shiny white lines, and is used for piping decorations on gingerbread people or other cookies. When using a pastry bag, practice your decorating skills before you ice the cookies. Just do a few trial runs to get the feel of the icing and the bag, piping the icing onto aluminum foil or wax paper. If you work quickly, you can use a metal spatula to scrape the test icing back into the batch.
Decorate the gingerbread men using royal icing for eyes, with mini chocolate chips placed in center, smile, zigzag on arms and legs, and three buttons with mini M&M's placed in center. Let dry completely.