Gingerbread Snowflakes

Ingredients: For the Cookies

• 2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, plus a little extra for rolling
• 2 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp salt
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup dark molasses
• Small snowflake or 6-pointed star cookie cutter

Ingredients: For the Icing

• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼-½ cup granulated sugar (depending on howsweet you’d like it to be)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup hot water
• 3 ½ cup whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation: Cookies

1. Using a wooden spoon, combine the flour, baking powder, spices and salt in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.
3. With the mixer off, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. Incorporate the eggs and molasses with the mixer set at medium speed.
5. Add the flour mixture.
6. Beat on low speed until blended—the dough will look like moist pebbles.
7. Press the dough together and divide in half.
8. Form each half into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap.
9. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
10. Grease baking sheets.
11. Preheat oven to 350º.
12. Sprinkle work surface with flour.
13. Working with half of the dough at a time, place a disk on the work surface and sprinkle lightly with flour.
14. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it’s about ¼″ thick. Sprinkle more flour as needed.
15. Cut out shape with cookie cutter and place on sheet pan.
16. Put in the oven and bake until light brown around the edges—exact time will depend upon the size of your cookies (approx. 8-10 minutes). Keep a close eye on the first batch!
17. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Using a metal spatula, move the cookies to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Preparation: Icing

1. In a bowl, stir confectioners sugar and milk until smooth.
2. Beat in corn syrup until smooth and glossy. If it's too thick, add in a little extra corn syrup or water.
3. Dip the tops of cooled cookies in the glaze, allowing excess glaze to drip off before placing them on a drying rack.
4. Once the glaze has dried completely, use a squeeze bottle and the remaining icing to decorate the snowflake. You may need to add a touch more sugar if it's not thick enough.