Easy Gingerbread Dough Recipe
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Sift flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt into large bowl.
2. Beat butter in another large bowl with an electric hand mixer at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
3. Add brown sugar and beat 1 minute.
4. Add molasses and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
5. Add egg and beat until well blended, about 1 minute.
6. Reduce speed to low and beat in vanilla.
7. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just to blend (Image 1).
8. Gather dough into ball and divide in half. Form each half into ball and flatten into a disk (Image 2). Wrap disks separately in plastic and chill until firm, at least 4 hours.
9. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
10. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
11. Working with one disk at a time, roll out dough between two sheets of wax paper to 1/4-inch thickness (Image 3).
12. Use gingerbread house templates to cut out shapes (Image 4) and transfer to prepared sheets spacing 2 inches apart.
13. Gather scraps, roll out dough and cut more shapes if necessary.
14. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are firm on top and slightly darker around edges, about 8 minutes for smaller shapes and up to 15 minutes for larger shapes.
15. Cool completely on rack. Line baking sheets with fresh parchment as needed.
Note: Cookies will not spread much during baking, but for precise gingerbread house construction, cookies can be perfectly re-cut while still hot. Place the paper templates on top of the hot cookies and quickly cut with a plain-edge knife (Image 5).
