For National Gingerbread Cookie Day I salute Mom Burnham… again. For decades she handmade gingerbread boys and girls for the trick-or-treaters at Halloween, but she often made and froze extras so we could enjoy them through the holiday season, too. Her recipe is featured in volume 3 of “Fifty Years of Fabulous Family Favorites: Starters, Sippers, and Sweets” (page 142) AND it is also used each year by the pastry chef at St. Mark Village in Florida to make 1,000 of the delicious gems. Mom and her volunteers decorate them ALL for the annual Christmas party for friends and family.
Glenna Burnham’s Gingerbread Boys & Girls
4 c sifted flour
1 tsp each: salt, baking soda, and ground nutmeg
2 tsp each: baking powder, ginger, and cloves
3 tsp cinnamon
1 cup each: Crisco shortening, sugar, and molasses
2 lg or x-lg egg yolks
Sift first 8 ingredients together. In large bowl, cream together shortening, sugar and molasses. Add egg yolks. Mix well. Stir in flour mixture. Roll out dough ¼” thick on lightly floured board. Cut with large Gingerbread Boy or Girl cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate, as desired, with sliced small gumdrops for buttons, raisins for eyes and nose, and slivers of red cherries for mouth before baking. (If decorating with icing, add it after they are baked & cooled.) Bake at 350°F for 8 (to 10 max) minutes. Cool. Yield: about 20 cookies.
Cathy’s note: If using small-sized cutters, be sure to bake for far less time, or you will get dark crispy cookies without the awesome gingery chewiness!
