I previously posted a gingerbread cookie recipe here at GAGF. However, over the years, I’ve realized that the more I make this specific recipe the less I like it.

First of all I think the recipe above lacks enough molasses and I wasn’t getting the spices perfect. Secondly, while it can turn out softer, chewier cookies, if you mess up and leave said cookies in the oven for a few seconds too long, you’re sunk. Also, if you want to get into aesthetics, the color of these cookies is not great. All-in-all, somewhere along the way I decided I hated this recipe - sorry if you made them and felt the same way.

New & improved gingerbread cookies

That said, I’ve been working on it, and I’ve come up with a gingerbread cookie recipe that’s not only much tastier but gorgeous in color. Best of all, these cookies stay soft. I HATE crispy gingerbread cookies. While you can make thinner, crunchier gingerbread with this recipe if you like, it’s also the perfect dough for softer, more chewy cookies.

Bonus, the dough is extremely easy to work with; not stiff or sticky at all.

Any cons?

• These are soft – so they need to be cooled 100% before you stack them or decorate them or they can bend.

• Harder to glaze than typical crisper gingerbread.

• I had a few break while decorating them – mainly with cookies I glazed or cookies with small points – i.e. snowflakes. They’re a bit more fragile than other gingerbread cookies I’ve made. I suggest making a little more dough than you think you need.

Gather the following ingredients – this makes about 3-4 dozen average sized cookies

• 3 cups all-purpose organic flour – don’t use bread flour!

• 3/4 packed cup organic brown sugar – dark brown would be best, but the other day, all I could find was normal organic brown sugar at my local store. I used it, and it was just fine. Organic brown sugar tends to run darker than conventional anyhow.

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1-1/2 sticks organic butter, slightly softened – salted, unsalted, whatever you’ve got on hand. I’ve used both.

• 3/4 cup Fair Trade, organic molasses – I’ve heard all about mild vs. robust molasses, but I’m not a chef genius, so I couldn’t tell you the difference. I use Wholesomes Sweetners – Organic Molasses.

• 2 tablespoons organic milk – Use any milk you like – whole, 2%, soy. The point is to help add some liquid quality to the dough, so type doesn’t matter. We usually keep 1% in the house, so I used that.

Spices – use the spices below as posted or adjust them to your liking. Changing up spices is a matter of taste, it won’t wreak your cookies to add less ginger or more nutmeg. If you grate your own spices, use less though, because fresh are more potent than ground.

• 1 tablespoon ground organic cinnamon
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoon ground organic ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground organic cloves
• Dash of organic nutmeg

Other traditional gingerbread-minded spices that I don’t use, but you may want to consider include: anise seed, coriander, cardamom, fennel seed, star anise and ground black pepper.

• Decorated homemade organic soft gingerbread cookies

   

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• Combine dry ingredients

   

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• Cut in butter

   

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• Mix molasses and milk

   

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• Stir wet ingredients into the dry

   

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• Mix until everything is well combined

   

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• Pat part of your dough onto a piece of parchment

   

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• Cut shapes in your dough

   

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• Leave some room around each cookie, since you'll be peeling back the dough

   

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• Cool completely before decorating or storing

   

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• Decorating ideas

   

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• Decorating ideas

   

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• Decorating ideas

   

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Making your soft gingerbread cookies

• Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and spices in a large bowl.

• Add your sugar and mix until well combined.

• Toss your softened butter into the flour mixture and cut the butter in with a pastry cutter. This isn’t pie making, so soft butter is a-okay, no need for the butter to be cold. Cut the butter in until the flour mixture resembles small shreds or balls.

• In a small bowl whisk your molasses and milk together, then drizzle the molasses mixture over your flour mixture.

• Mix everything together until well combined. It’s a little hard to mix near the end, but a decent wooden spoon will do the job.

• At this point you’ll have a bowl of velvety smooth dough. Now, you can chill your dough for a bit if you like, but I didn’t. I don’t like working with stiff dough.

• After chilling (or now, if you don’t chill) grab a third of the dough and pat it into a ball onto a piece of parchment paper. Notice in the slide-show above that I DID NOT sprinkle flour on the parchment or the dough. This dough is awesome. It won’t stick to your parchment at all, no flour needed.

• If you want nice soft, chewy cookies, roll your dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness. For crisper cookies, roll the dough thinner. For super soft cookies, roll the dough even thicker – I didn’t try this, but I’m guessing thicker than 1/4 inch cookies will need an extra minute or so in the oven.

• Use cookie cutter to cut shapes into your dough. Once you’ve used up all the space, peel away the excess dough, so you’re left with a bunch of cookie shape on your parchment.

• Now, because this dough is soft, transferring the cookies to a cookie sheet can be a bit tricky, but not bad. You can either pick up the whole darn parchment and slide it onto a cookie sheet, or carefully lift each cookie with a spatula and place them on your cookie sheet. Either way though, you should prepare your cookie sheet with parchment.

• Bake these at 350 degrees for no longer than 7 to 8 minutes. They should still look a bit undone, but remember, they’ll keep setting up a little after they’re out of the oven.

• As soon as possible get them off the hot pan and onto a cooling rack. My cookies easily transferred to my cooling rack after a minute.

• Cool entirely before decorating.

Decorating your cookies

Decorating your gingerbread cookies

You’ve got various decor choices available, including glaze, frosting, (glaze + frosting), sugar sprinkles or other candy adornments. To make a basic cookie glaze, see the glaze recipe in my organic pumpkin cupcake post. To make frosting, keep reading…

Basic cookie frosting:

• Whip 1/3 cup of butter until creamy.
• Mix in 2 cups organic powdered sugar.
• Add a dash of organic, Fair Trade vanilla extract and 1/4 cup of organic milk.
• Add another 2 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar.
• Mix everything until creamy smooth and well combined. You can do this by hand, but I use a small inexpensive hand mixer for better results.

If it’s too thick you can add a bit more milk. You can also substitute 1/4 cup fresh organic orange juice + 1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel for the milk in this recipe if you’d like an orange flavored frosting, which goes well with gingerbread. This frosting can be spread on cookies or piped on with a reusable pastry bag for design work. You can also color it with natural food coloring. I use India Tree Natural Decorating Colors.

Other decorating options:

• Indian Tree Decorating Sugars
• India Tree Snowflakes
• India Tree Boughs of Holly Party Decoratifs

UPDATE DECEMBER 2011: If you got here looking for gingerbread, the recipe below is outdated. It’s just too iffy. If you want a much better gingerbread recipe, read Homemade Soft Organic Gingerbread Cookies.

We usually have a cookie baking and decorating day during December, with the main event being gingerbread. This year I asked the kids if they wanted to make gingerbread cookies or gingerbread houses instead. Everyone thought houses sounded like fun, but settled on cookies because they’re more fun to eat – who wants to kill their gingerbread house just to eat it?! So, this year we’ll be making cookies.

Homemade Organic Gingerbread Cookies: This recipe makes about 18-20 cookies each, depending on the size and thickness of your cookies. I anticipate mess ups and other mishaps on a major cookie making day, so I plan for too much dough rather than not enough and make one full batch of gingerbread for each kid. So, in my case, with three kids, I’d triple the ingredients below. If we end up with too many cookies, we give some to friends and family. Also, to save on packaging, I do buy dry ingredients in bulk when possible.

Note: The chilling process takes about an hour, so plan ahead.

Gather the following:

• 3/4 cup packed dark brown Fair Trade organic sugar
• 1 stick organic butter, softened
• 2 large organic eggs
• 1/4 cup Fair Trade organic molasses
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose organic flour (plus you’ll need a little extra for dusting your work surface)
• 2 teaspoons ground organic ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground organic cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated organic nutmeg – if you don’t want to grate nutmeg, use ground, but since fresh nutmeg is more potent, you’ll need to use a bit extra ground.
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

To make your gingerbread cookie dough:

1. Use an electric mixer on low and cream the sugar and butter together. I’ve also used a wooden spoon, which is fine if you don’t have a mixer.

2. Add the eggs and molasses to the butter mixture and mix until combined.

3. In another bowl, sift the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together.

4. Add your dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix with a spatula.

5. Scrap your dough out of the bowl, wrap it in waxed paper (we don’t use plastic wrap here). Place the dough in the refrigerator until it’s nice and firm. This usually takes about 1 hour.

Make your cookies:

You can preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. if you like. I never preheat to save energy (bakers all over the world faint) this is totally up to you and your oven. My first batch of cookies just takes a few more minutes, but ah well.

• Take your dough out of the fridge, and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes, until it’s pliable enough for the kids.

• While your dough softens, line some cookie sheets with reusable cookie sheet liner, reusable parchment paper, or simply go old school and grease a cookie sheet.

• Once your dough is soft, give each kid a pile of said dough. Have them roll out dough on a lightly floured surface, until dough is about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out designs of your choosing with cookie cutters.

• Re-roll any scraps and use up all the dough. Transfer the cut cookies to the prepared cookie sheets.

• Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until just beginning to brown at the edges. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Decorate your gingerbread cookies:

• You’ve got lots of choices when it comes to decorating your cookies.

• You can make an easy homemade icing – mix 1 cup Fair Trade, organic confectioners’ sugar (sifted) with 1 to 2 tablespoons organic milk and 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract, and either leave it white, or add some non-toxic food coloring.

• Don’t use frosting at all. You can also simply sprinkle your cookies with a dusting of organic confectioners’ sugar.

• If you’d like to decorate your cookies with pretty sprinkles or little candies head to Natural Candy Store for organic and natural treats.

Extras:

• Non-toxic Food Coloring set.
• Serve cookies with homemade organic Fair Trade hot chocolate.
• Make organic sugar cookies instead.
• Great green cooking gifts for kids.

[images: cookie dough © fonto; organic cookies © Barbara Dudzinska]

]]> http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/easy-homemade-organic-gingerbread-cookies/feed/ 4 http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/wonderful-fun-ideas-for-green-families/ http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/wonderful-fun-ideas-for-green-families/#comments Sat, 01 May 2010 01:03:45 +0000 Jennifer Chait http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/?p=2841

This week I’ve got an array of cool green links for you to check out – since I’ve been ranting all week about hyper serious stuff I tried to pick some fun links. Nothing too serious allowed today just neat-o green treats for families…

• Petite Planet has the most adorable eco-friendly watches for kids on tap – lovely colors, lean, green and also 100% affordable.
• Yum – you know you need a delightful homemade Organic Strawberry Parfait right now! Brought to you by the equally delightful Peggy at Light Green Stairs.
• Green Your Decor blogger and mama Jennae recently finished an amazing eco-friendly redesign for her little one’s bedroom. See a full gallery and gather inspiration for your own child’s green space.
• Kid’s Birthday Fun Review knows just how to make the kids happy – grab some organic cake mix and natural jelly beans and sprout your very own Spring Jelly Bean Flower Cupcakes!
• Adorable beyond adorable, Inhabitots has the sweetest lil’ string creatures ever!
• Plan the best green baby shower on earth (and for the earth) with the help of the fab ladies of Celebrate Green.

Surprise link of the week via freshome – grab the kids and click here to see something fun.

With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, you may be looking for eco-friendly treats. My family recently sampled some YummyEarth gummy candy, and here’s what we think…

PRODUCT: YummyEarth Organic Gummy Bears and Organic Gummy Worms from YummyEarth. Gummy Bear flavors include; Pomegranate Pucker, Sour Apple Tart and Strawberry Smash. Gummy Worm flavors include; Pomegranate Pucker, Sour Apple Tart, Tangy Tangerine.

INGREDIENTS: Organic rice syrup, organic cane sugar, gelatin, organic carrot juice, organic aronia juice, organic black currant, organic curcuma, natural flavor, citric acid, ascorbic acid, organic sunflower oil.

COST: $8.97 for three 5oz bags.

Eco & health perks:

• No Artifical Dyes
• No Corn Syrup
• Tree Nut Free
• Peanut- free
• Soy-free
• Dairy-free
• GMO-free
• no MSG
• Fat-Free
• Gluten-Free
• 100% all natural
• USDA Organic
• 100% Vitamin C per serving
• Less than 90 calories per serving

WHAT WE THINK OF THE TASTE:

Taste-wise these were a huge hit at my house. My VERY picky 8-year-old son Cedar loved them, and he rarely loves food products of any kind. He said they were “juicy sweet” and tasted like fruit – fruit and veggies are his favorite food so for him to say they actually tasted like fruit is a big deal. He wanted to know if they had high fructose corn syrup because his school banned it, and since, no these don’t have corn syrup, he was thrilled because that meant he could take some in his lunch.

My boyfriend’s 11-year-old daughter who loves candy but who unlike my son doesn’t love many fruit or veggies really liked these too, saying, “Hey they taste fruity but really good – not too sweet!” I was surprised she liked them because they were natural and not as surgery tasting as other candies.

My boyfriend who doesn’t eat gummy candy, because he doesn’t like the sticky factor, also liked them stating that they weren’t too chewy or sticky like most gummy candy.

As for me, I’m a chocolate person and I don’t really like any fruit candy, but if I had to eat some, these are pretty good. Not too sticky (as my boyfriend said) and they had a great fruity flavor that was a little sour and sweet but not overly so. Not that I’ll be switching to fruit candy over chocolate anytime soon, but these were so much better than other fruit candy.

OTHER PROS:

YummyEarth as a company is fairly eco-friendly. The company was started by two dads and all the products they make are USDA Organic and free from chemical colors, artificial flavors, corn syrup or anything they wouldn’t give their own kids, including GMO’s. In fact these gummy treats are the first and only USDA organic gummy bears available on the market. Surf Sweets also makes organic gummy candy, but they’re not USDA certified. The company’s organic lollies are somewhat of a legend being called “The best lollipop I’ve ever tasted” by Phil Lempert the Today Show Food Editor.

The organic gummy bears and worms are made in Germany which is a big footprint if you’re in the U.S. but right now YummyEarth’s largest market for gummy bears at this time is in Europe and Asia, so it makes sense to keep production closer to customers. The organic pops and drops made by YummyEarth are made in Mexico which at first glance sounds like it could be a cheap labor situation but in actuallity, one of the dads behind the company was born and grew up in Mexico City and having YummyEarth made their has created 60 fair paying new jobs in his homeland. Also the organic sugar is grown locally in Mexico by 50 family farmers.

YummyEarth tightly controls the manufacturing processes both at the Mexico facility and at their Germany facility. Facilities are inspected frequently by US and German inspectors and have exemplary quality and safety records plus the company pays fair wages to team members.

Finished products are sent to the University of Nebraska for nutrients and contaminants testing.

The company discloses all ingredients and nutrition information online and on their packaging and has an extensive FAQ section.

The line of candy is adult and kid friendly. Beyond simple organic treats for kids, YummyEarth also makes organic Artisanal Candy that is perfect for adult taste-buds.

ANY CONS?:

The only con I found with this product (both the bears and worms) is the packaging. The packaging is typical candy wrap – meaning most likely made of mixed material that’s super tough to recycle. Even so some recycling plants are attempting to sort out candy wrappers but there’s no recycling reminder on these YummyEarth packages. I looked around the website for more info on said packaging and couldn’t find any. All in all, any non-bulk-bin candy you buy has the potential to create a large amount of non-recyclable trash, including YummyEarth candy.

On the plus side, YummyEarth does have larger bulk sizes available and sells in bulk to wholesale dealers. If I were you I’d skip the YummyEarth snack packs and aim to buy a larger amount to cut down on packaging.

OVERALL SCORE:

4.5 out of 5 little trees! I had to take off half a point for the packaging issue, but otherwise I’m going to highly recommend this candy. Every single person at my house liked them (which never happens with food reviews – including candy) and you can’t beat the ingredients or family-friendly prices. If you’re looking for a fun Valentine’s Day gummy candy or anytime candy that’s not overly sweet or sticky then YummyEarth Gummy Bears or Worms are a perfect fit. Visit YummyEarth to learn more or to purchase candy.

See my green product rating system and green product rating criteria or read more green product reviews.