Gingerbread Dough For Structures

Cream shortening and sugar. Add molasses and egg; beat thoroughly. Sift
together remaining ingredients and add to liquid mixture. Mix well. If
dough does not come together, add water as necessary. (Dough tends to be
stiff.) Roll to 1/2″ thick and cut pattern for desired structure. Bake at
350 for 15-18 minutes. Be very careful when removing from baking sheets to
cooling rack. Let cool thoroughly, then assemble using Royal icing (2 egg
whites, 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar, 1/2 to 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 lb.
confectioners sugar. Beat until stiff.)

A couple of things: Roll out the dough right on the cookie sheets, cut your
pieces, and peel away the extra dough. A lot easier than trying to
transfer the pieces from rolling board to sheets. Leave some space between
pieces; this dough tends to spread a bit. It also has a tendency to crack
a little when you take it off the baking sheet if you use a small spatula
to move it. I went out and invested in one with a 5″x3″ blade. The cookie
isn’t too sweet, but nice and spicy.

I spent the whole day with my mom, helping her make cookies for Christmas
gifts. Somewhere around 600 cookies later, I’m finally home…. Anyway,
she gave me permission to divulge her gingerbread recipe, so here it is.