Gingerbread Men & Recipe

I decided to start a little of our holiday baking today.
Gingerbread men were on the list first.
Simple to make, tasty to eat and always a hit.

I use the McCormick recipe for making Gingerbread Men and it has yet to fail me.
This year is the first year that I decided to decorate them.
Normally, I simply use raisins and cinnamon candies.
Spencer even joined in the decorating fun.
Fun, fun, fun!

Makes 2 dozen or 24 (1 cookie) servings.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Refrigerate Time: 4 hours

Cook Time: 8 to 10 minutes per batch

INGREDIENTS

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons McCormick® Ginger, Ground

1 teaspoon McCormick® Cinnamon, Ground

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Nutmeg, Ground

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 egg

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

You can go here for variations of the McCormick Gingerbread Cookie Recipe.