Tartines Soft Glazed Gingerbread Recipes

SOFT GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 pan.
• Cream brown sugar and butter thoroughly.
• Add eggs and molasses and combine.
• In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients together.
• In a separate bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda.
• Add dry ingredients and water/soda to mixing bowl alternately, mixing well with each addition.
• Pour into pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until done.
• Serve with whipped cream on top.

MOM'S BEST SOFT GINGERBREAD COOKIES (NEW! GB HOUSE DIRECTIONS!)

Steps:

• Place cloves in hot water; set aside.
• Cream shortening and sugar.
• Add egg and beat.
• Add molasses, beat.
• Remove cloves from water, discard cloves.
• Add clove water, beat. *Dough will look "curdled".
• Add rest of ingredients, except the last 4 cups flour, and beat. Gradually beat in last 4 cups flour.
• Chill dough.
• Roll out to 1/2" thick or slightly less.
• Cut into shapes.
• Decorate with raisins if desired.
• Place carefully on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes. Do not over bake.
• *GB House directions:.
• Make dough the same as above, but roll dough out thin, 1/4" at most.
• Bake in 325 oven for about 20 minutes.
• Remove to racks to cool, and let harden/dry out a bit overnight for sturdiness if making large pieces.
• *Doors and windows need to be cut out PRIOR to baking. Fill any with crushed hard candy before baking, too. And pieces filled with hard candy baked the best on foil. Non candy-filled pieces were baked on parchment paper.

SOFT GINGERBREAD TILES WITH RUM BUTTER GLAZE

Steps:

• Place the butter, sugar and molasses in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat on medium speed until smooth and incorporated. Add the egg yolk and continue to beat until fully combined.
• Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and pepper into a bowl. Turn the speed of the mixer to low, and add the dry ingredients to the butter and molasses. Once the mix comes together, tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently. Roll out the dough so that it is about 1/4 inch/ 0.5 cm thick. If the dough is very soft, you will need to chill it.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Dip the cookie stamps in a small bowl of flour, shake off any excess and then press them firmly into the dough, one at a time, to create a deep imprint. How far you need to press to get an imprint will depend on your stamp; the patterns on some are more deeply cut than others. Bear in mind that the cookies rise a little when cooked, so any soft imprints will disappear. Using a round cookie cutter that is slightly larger than the pattern, cut out the pieces of imprinted gingerbread. Transfer the cookies to the lined baking sheets, spaced about 3/4 inch/2 cm apart. Reroll the dough and continue to stamp and cut cookies until all the dough is used up.
• Bake for 9-10 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until firm to the touch. They will continue to firm up as they cool, so don't be tempted to bake them for any longer.
• To make the rum butter glaze while the gingerbreads are in the oven, as the glaze needs to be brushed onto the cookies while they are still warm, sift the confectioners' sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl. Add the melted butter, rum (or lemon juice) and water and mix with a spoon until smooth. The glaze will thicken slightly if it sits around, so stir through a little more warm water if you need to-it should be the consistency of runny honey.
• Remove the cookies from the oven, leave them to cool for 5 minutes, then brush or dab the glaze all over with a pastry brush. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Make-Ahead
• Once the dough is made, it can be covered in plastic wrap and kept in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking.
• Storage
• These will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container. The glaze will discolor and crack a little, but this will not affect how they taste.