Gingerbread Men Cookies

Gingerbread Men:

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger.

In a stand mixer, mix together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg then the molasses. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated.

Divide the dough in two halves. Working with one half at a time, roll out the dough on a well floured surface and lightly flour the top of the dough too before rolling it out. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness (make sure not to roll out the dough thin). Cut with gingerbread figure cutter (4 inch size). Use a flat spatula that is well floured to pick up the cookie pieces and lay them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Re-roll any excess dough and repeat the process.

Bake in a preheated 350 F oven for about 10 minutes. Let cool completely before decorating.

Makes about 30 gingerbread men cookies (depending on the size of your cookie cutter)

 Royal Icing:

Mix together well. It takes a little effort to get it to become uniform. I mix it with a fork. It should be thick not runny. Place in a plastic decorating bag with a fine tip.