A Gingerbread House: Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

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Makes 1 small house

This dough may be refrigerated for up to a week. If you have extra dough, cut cookie shapes to feed your building crew.

• 8 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons ground ginger
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper (optional)
• 2 1/2 sticks butter or margarine, softened (butter makes a tastier dough, margarine a sturdier, longer-lasting one)
• 1 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups unsulfured molasses

1. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set aside. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and molasses. Add a third of the flour mixture and beat on slow speed until combined, then add the remainder of the flour mixture in two batches, beating after each addition. Chill the dough at least one hour.

2. Heat the oven to 350°F.

3. Roll the dough between two sheets of baking parchment until it is 1/8 inch thick. Remove the top sheet of parchment. Using cardboard templates in the shapes shown on page 29, cut out the house pieces. Transfer the pieces, still on the parchment, to an ungreased baking sheet. Bake them for 15 minutes or until slightly brown along the edges and firm to the touch. Let the pieces cool on the baking sheet about 20 minutes. While they are still warm, check their shape with the appropriate template and trim with a sharp knife if necessary. Let the pieces set overnight.

Click here for the original article, A Gingerbread House.

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