Gingerbread Cookies and Gingerbread Cupcakes

These are yummy as well as a decorative Gingerbread cupcakes and cookies. We used the Gingerbread cookies to decorate our Milk Glass filled with Eggnog.

Gingerbread Cupcake recipe adapted from Sweet Girl Confections

Gingerbread Cookies are my favorite decorating cookies for the Christmas Season. This is the best Gingerbread Cookie recipe that I’ve used and I hope you enjoy baking them, eating them and decorating them! (This is a very good recipe for making Gingerbread Houses too.)

You can find the Royal Icing here and the Cream Cheese Frosting here

Gingerbread Cookies

Cream together in bowl until light and fluffy:

*1/3 cup Brown Sugar
*1\3 cup Butter or Margarine or Shortening

Beat into above Mixture the Molasses and egg until combine:

*2\3 cup Molasses
*1 unbeaten Egg

Whisk together the dry ingredients and add to the above mixture:

*3 cups Flour, save 1/2 cup to add slowly as needed
*1 tablespoon Baking Powder
*1 and 1\2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
*1/2 teaspoon Salt

Add a few tablespoons of water if need to form into 4 individual balls wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours. When ready to roll out dough, removing one ball of Gingerbread dough from the refrigerator at a time and roll out into the thickness desired (I like cut about 1/4 inch plus) and cut into Gingerbread shapes, stars, etc… (If you want to use cookies for ornaments for a tree or just hang them from a glass etc… Punch a hole in the top of the cookies with a straw before baking.)

Pre-heat oven 350*F. and bake the cookies on a greased cookie sheet/half baking sheet for about 7-10 Minutes careful not to over bake. Remove Cookies from oven and let cookies cool slightly on cooking Sheet before removing.

Decorating Gingerbread Cookies options:

*Before baking you can decorate the cookies with Red Hot Cinnamon candies, silver Candy Decorating Balls or raisins etc…. And then bake.

*After baking the straw punched cookies, cool and using Jute or Bakers Twine, etc…. to hang as Gingerbread Cookie Ornaments.

*Frost cooled cookies with a cream cheese or use a Royal Icing, decorate with desired Candies, etc…

These cookies freeze well, so double bag them in plastic Bread Bags and keep in freezer for up to two weeks.

Gingerbread Cupcakes and Frosting

Recipe adapted from Sweet Girl Confections
Gingerbread Cupcakes

Cream together:

*1/2 cup Butter, room temperature
*1 teaspoon Vanilla
*1/2 cup Sugar
*1/2 cup Molasses
*2 eggs, room temperature, beaten

Whisk together dry Ingredients:

*2 cups All Purpose Flour
*1 teaspoon Soda
*1/2 tablespoon Ground Ginger
*1 teaspoon Cinnamon
*1/2 teaspoon Allspice
*1/2 teaspoon Salt
*1/8 teaspoon ground cloves, optional

Mix the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture.

*3/4 cup Boiling Water
*1 teaspoon Baking Soda

After bringing the Water to a boil, remove from heat and add the Baking Soda and whisk into the combined mixture from above.

Using muffin tins lined with paper cupcake cups. Fill each paper cupcake 3/4 full with batter.

Bake the Gingerbread cupcakes at 375*F. for about 13 – 17 minutes.

Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow cooling completely before frosting with the Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting.

Recipe makes about 15 Cupcakes.

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

*1 package Cream Cheese, softened
*1/4 cup Butter, room temperature
*1 teaspoon Lemon Peel, we used Dried
*1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
*2 teaspoons Vanilla
*4 cups Powdered Sugar
*1-2 teaspoon milk

Mix in mixer the above ingredients, but add Powdered Sugar one cup at a time, and the Milk as needed until smooth, but able to hold shape when piped onto Cupcake.

Keep Frosting in refrigerator until ready to decorate and eat cupcakes.