Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Men

Alright, now that we are all nice and skinny, let's head straight into cookie season.

Gingerbread men... a holiday classic.

Another adjective to describe these little guys would be barely gingery. Yeah, that's right.  Gingery.

Definition by me...
Gingery (adj.) :  The amount of kick from spice and ginger that is contained in one's gingerbread recipe.

I happen to prefer my men to have a slight hint of ginger and spice rather than a pungent kick.

I believe this recipe is for those who like the holiday spirit of gingerbread men (but not the taste of ginger) or maybe looking for  a kid friendly recipe.

This one's a star.  I also see the world only one way when it comes to the texture of these holiday studs.  I like them soft and chewy.  I personally could even have a little more gingery taste, but a crisp little man is not for me.

 

Hope your December is off to a great start.

From my little kitchen to yours... Merry Christmas.

Soft & Chewy, {Barely Gingery} Gingerbread Men
Recipe Notes


Adapted from allrecipes.com
Ingredients
1 (3.5 ounce) package cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large or extra large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out dough
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

parchment paper
Icing & Decorations
Milk, a couple of tablespoons
Powdered sugar, about a cup
Red Hots
White Sprinkles
Directions
In a medium bowl, cream together the dry butterscotch pudding mix, butter, and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon; beat into the butterscotch mixture on low until just combined. Cover, and chill dough until firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Lay out a piece of parchment paper on a clean surface.  Sprinkle with flour.  Remove half of the dough from the refrigerator and roll into a 1/4 inch thickness.  Dough will be very sticky so sprinkle flour on top of the dough as well to keep the rolling pin from sticking.  Place parchment paper with rolled out dough on a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator.  Let chill for 15 minutes.  Remove from refrigerator and cut into shapes.  Repeat with remaining half of dough.  Place cookies 2 inches apart of parchment lined cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies start to set on the edges. Cool on wire racks.

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

Easy Icing
I just used a little bit of icing for these cookies so I made a really simple mixture that would work to harden and hold on red hots or sprinkles.  Start by pouring about a cup of powdered sugar into a small bowl.  Add a little bit of milk... about a teaspoon.  Mix thoroughly.  Add milk, a few drops at a time until icing is about the consistency of glue.  You do not want it to runny, but you want it to squeeze through a small squeeze bottle.  Put icing mixture into a small squeeze bottle and pipe onto cookies.

Click here for more info on icing cookies.