Thursday Recipe

Christmastime is here and one of my favorite things about the holidays is gingerbread cookies. The crunch, the spice, that warm feeling you get when you eat them. It wraps up all the warmth of the holiday in one perfect cookie. This is a food network recipe - I love the combination of the orange with the ginger.

Ingredients

• 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
• 6 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1 tablespoon ginger
• Pinch of salt
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Zest of 1 orange
• 2 eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Sift the flour, baking powder, spices and salt together in a large bowl, and set aside.

In a small saucepan combine the butter, honey, sugar, lemon juice and the lemon and orange zest. Bring this to medium heat and cook until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Let cool to about room temperature and beat in the eggs.

Make a well in the flour/spice mixture and add the egg/sugar mixture to the well. Using a fork, begin to gradually incorporate the flour into the egg mixture. When the flour has mostly been incorporated, turn the mixture out onto a clean work surface and gently knead until the mixture is smooth and homogenous. Knead in a little more flour if the dough seems sticky. Chill dough for 1 hour or overnight.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to an even thickness of about 1/4-inch. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place on a lightly greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cookies are firm and lightly browned. Let the cookies cool for 3 to 4 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

When the cookies are completely cool decorate, as desired.