Mary Jane's Gingerbread Cookies

I don't know who Mary Jane is, but her gingerbread cookies are really easy to make and taste delicious! This recipe is even easier if you happen to have a Kitchen Aid mixer.

Mary Jane's Gingerbread Cookies

1 1/8 teaspoons baking soda
1/3 cup hot water (120 to 130 degrees F - I just use really hot tap water)
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup molasses
1 egg, slightly beaten
6 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in the hot water; set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in molasses, egg, and baking soda mixture. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer (this is where the Kitchen Aid comes in very handy). Stir in any remaining flour. Divide the dough into four portions. Wrap and chill dough for 4 to 24 hours or until easy to handle.

This is all the dough. I divide the dough in two portions and use
one half immediately and freeze the other half for future use.

Always have someone to help you with the "clean-up".

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of the dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. Using 3 1/2-inch cookie cutters, cut into desired shapes. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough portions.

3. Bake in preheated oven about 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool. Makes about 80.

To Store: Layer cookies between waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

I like using this heart cookie cutter. It is just the right
size and the cookies fit nicely into the lunch bags.

Here they are, just waiting for the girls to get home from school.

A few notes:
As I already mentioned above, I like to divide the dough into 2 portions. Then I put a bunch of the baked cookies into a freezer bag and just pull them out for school lunches.

The recipe says to bake for 8 minutes but I find that 10 minutes seems better (at least with my ancient oven).

I had almost given up on making gingerbread cookies - I tried several different recipes and none were that great and I ended up throwing out the dough or the cookies were like rocks. This recipe really is fantastic and easy. The dough is easy to roll, the cookies have hard edges but are chewy on the inside. My kids devour them!

Thanks to Shannon for giving me the recipe in the first place.