Incarcerated

The first thing I think when I hear the name Martha Stewart is "she went to prison", not "she is an amazing cook" or "she created a business empire".  But I made her recipe for marble cupcakes this past week and they were delicious. 

And I have been feeling very Martha Stewart lately, and have been on a big baking kick.  Not because it is the holidays or anything but just because I like to bake.  And I found this really amazing recipe for soft gingerbread cookies, which I made to take to "Cookie and Movie Night" with Paul's cousins.  When I walked in with a big red platter of iced gingerbread, I have to say that the reactions really were just what I was hoping for. 

So even though it is sort of out of character for me and blogging about food might be boring, and I know I just posted about fruit pizza a month ago or so, I couldn't resist posting the photos I took of these gingerbread cookies.  I found the recipe here and I completely admit that her cookies are even more beautiful than mine - her piping skills are way better.  But mine turned out pretty nice too, so I thought I would share:

Soft and Spicy Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1 egg
4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg (*note - I was too timid to do a full 2 tsp of both ginger and cloves so I only did 1 tsp of each, but having made the recipe now I think it would be great with the original amounts, albeit with more spice - its up to you); blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least one hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line with parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Let cool for 10 minutes on pan. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool with Royal Icing and sugar.

They really did stay soft and chewy and were delicious even without the icing.  I highly recommend adding this recipe to your holiday collection.