Gingerbread Boys & Girls

Gingerbread Cookies are a must at my house. My husband likes very few cookies but this is one that he just loves so I am required to make them every year! I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com and it was very good. I wish it had a bit more "spice" to it though...next year I will be slightly increasing the amount of the spices. Either way my husband loved them so they are good in my book!

Also, I'm not a confident baker so when it comes to breads/cookies/baked good of any kind I follow the recipe exactly. The only thing I omitted from this recipe was the royal icing. I made my own icing.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup molasses
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 
  
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3 egg whites

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the molasses and eggs. Combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour, baking soda, salt, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger; beat into the molasses mixture. Gradually stir in the remaining flour by hand to form a stiff dough.
3. Divide dough into 2 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. In a medium bowl, sift together confectioners' sugar and cream of tartar. Blend in egg whites. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat for about 5 minutes, or until mixture is thick and stiff. Keep covered with a moist cloth until ready to frost cookies.