Soft Molasses Spice Cookies (Gingerbread Men)

Finally... a recipe that not only makes the cutest little gingerbread men, but bakes up soft and chewy, too!  My family loves decorating gingerbread cookies, but most of us didn't like eating them - until now.  These tender, lightly spiced cookies are so much fun to decorate, and a joy to eat. :)

Ingredients

1 cup shortening (I use palm oil shortening, which is trans-fat free... if you can't find it, you can use butter instead - or use half butter and half vegetable shortening.  The shortening adds to the chewy texture, and helps prevent them from burning.)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup molasses
5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

Directions

In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses. Combine the dry ingredients; add to the creamed mixture alternately with water, beating well after each addition. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters dipped in flour. Place 1 in. apart on greased or parchment-lined baking sheets. (I prefer parchment... it helps keeps the bottoms from turning too brown.)

Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or just until edges are firm. Remove to wire racks to cool. Frost and decorate as desired.
 Yield: about 6-1/2 dozen.

Variation:  For a lighter cookie which reminds me of the "lebkuchen" in Germany - thick, spiced cookies made with a fermented honey/flour base - you can substitute honey for half of the molasses in the recipe.  It's equally good, with a slightly different flavor. :)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - Batter tricks

So what is the trick to getting nice, chewy chip cookies that hold their shape?  Well, there's a few little tricks I've learned along the way that you can use with your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (or for starters, you can use the Tollhouse recipe on the back of Nestle chocolate chips):

1) Use room temperature or softened butter.  If you want your cookies to hold their beautiful shape, don't melt the butter - just let it be softened. Often, this is "room temperature," but if your room temperature is only 60 (as it often is at my house during the winter) then you will need to gently soften it, either in the microwave on low power, checking frequently, or near a place that is warmer than the rest of the room (wood stove, near the oven while something else is baking - not too close, though! - etc.)


Note: Most recipes call for part butter and part shortening.  You can use part shortening if you wish, but if you are concerned about trans fats, use one of the following alternatives to Crisco-type shortening--
            *Lard (do NOT use lard that has hydrogenated lard added in)
            *Organic virgin coconut oil
            *Organic palm oil (also sold as all-natural, non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening)
            *Or, just use all butter in place of the shortening called for in the recipe.  Vegetable shortening does contribute to chewiness, but the following tips will still give you chewy cookies regardless of whether you use all butter or not.

2) Replace part of the white sugar in the recipe with more brown sugar.
             *Most single-batch recipes call for 3/4 cup EACH of brown and white sugar.  I use 1 cup of brown sugar, and    1/2 cup of white sugar.  It's still 1 1/2 cups of sugar total, but brown sugar acts more as a humectant, to help hold the moisture (and therefore chewiness) in the cookies.

3) CREAM THE BUTTER AND SUGAR ON LOW SPEED UNTIL FLUFFY.  I can't emphasize this step strongly enough.  Yes, it's such an easy step to skip, or at least to be stingy with... but you don't want to do that if you're looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. :)  You're looking to achieve a consistency similar to whipped cream, which is also another reason why you want that butter softened, but not melted.  How do you know when it's ready? 
           *Light, fluffy consistency that is almost white in color
           *Little to no graininess left from the sugar
Yes, this takes a long time - usually about 10 minutes with a stand mixer on the lowest, or second lowest, setting.  I got a stand mixer a few years ago and it has been SUCH a help with this step, because standing there that long with a hand mixer in one hand and a baby in the other arm was a real challenge - but worth it for those perfect cookies nonetheless. :)  Why low speed?  ...Because the sugar granules do a better job of breaking down the fat and adding air to the mixture if they aren't rushed into it. :)

*Again, use your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with these tips, but please do use decent-quality chocolate chips if you can.  Ghirardelli makes fantastic chips (especially the double chocolate or bittersweet varieties) but you don't need to go that fancy... Nestle (esp the mini chips, which spread nicely throughout the batter) or Hershey's Special Dark are also excellent choices.

Coming soon: Tips for baking that yummy dough!