1 cup corn oil margarine
1 cup molasses
1 cup sugar
1 each egg
4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 currants, raisins, silver
1 balls and candy,
1 for decoration
1 each egg yolk mixed w/1 ts water
1 icing for decorating
Directions
Preparation time: 25 minutes Chilling time: 8 hours or overnight
Baking time: 7 to 10 minutes
1. Beat margarine, sugar and molasses in a large mixing bowl. Add
egg and mix well.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon,
cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Add to butter mixture; mix well.
3. Divide dough into 4 equal portions on a large piece of plastic
wrap. Wrap and shape into a flat disk about 1 inch thick. Refrigerate
until firm, about 8 hours, or freeze for 2 hours. (Dough can be
refrigerated up to 3 days.)
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Working with 1 disk of the dough at a
time, roll out on a well-floured board, dusting the rolling pin as
you work. Dough will be very soft and can be difficult to work with
so work quickly and use plenty of flour. Using cookie cutters dipped
in flour, cut into desired shapes. Put cookies 1 inch apart on an
ungreased cookie sheet. Use currants or candy for eyes or buttons, if
desired.
5. Bake until lightly puffed, 7 to 10 minutes. First batch may be
puffier because they will have less flour rolled in them. While still
warm, paint with egg yolk wash if desired. Cool on wire racks. Cool
completely, then decorate as desired with icing.
Icing: Mix confectioners' sugar with a small amount of water until
thick and spreading consistency. Add food coloring if desired and put
in a small plastic bag. Cut a small hole in one corner and drizzle
icing out onto the cooled cookies.
Note: A 4-inch gingerbread cookie cutter was used in testing.
Oak Brook's Gloria Heeter is a newcomer to the Chicago area and
brings her favorite gingerbread cookie with her from Kansas City,
Kan. "About nine years ago, my neighbor, Diane Collins, brought them
over for Halloween in Halloween shapes," she says. "I took out some
of the egg yolks and substituted corn oil margarine rather than
shortening, which sometimes can have palm oil in it." Calling them
"truly a cookie for all seasons," Heeter once even made them for her
golden retriever's first birthday party. "We invited the neighborhood
kids in for punch and cookies-cookies shaped like dogbones." At
Christmas, though, "I typically print the names of each person on the
cookies, place them in a plastic bag and decorate them with a red and
green ribbon," writes Heeter of her personalized gingerbread people.
"A handmade gift is always filled with love." from the Chicago
Tribune annual Food Guide Holiday Cookie Contest December 8, 1988
Servings: 24 servings
1988 3rd Place: Gloria Heeter's Best Gingerbr Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Beverage; Candy; Dessert; Fruit
The History of Recipes
We are able to track the history of written recipes far back into the distant past, certainly as far back into recorded history as the Egyptians, and potentially, even further back. Having said that, in the main part, these old records were just basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing food.
The truth of the matter is, the oldest recipe discovered, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are a few stone tablets in Sumerian describing the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel blissful. As we move into The time of the romans around 25BC a roman called Apicius created a collection of scripts detailing recipes prepared by his fellow Romans. In his publication, Apicius recounts how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into hors d`oeuvre, main course and afters, a style of dining still practiced today. Aspicius also informs us how the ancient cooks were skilled in the use of many herbs and spices, including a few you will know for example bay, fennel and dill. As we move on, there were a couple of recipe books from the fourteenth century - a recipe book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary titled `Curye on Inglish`. Don`t be fooled by the titles though, these are unconnected to the spicy food that is popular today, but rather accounts of the types of meals enjoyed by the upper classes of the period. Later, in the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought us a variety of foods, spices and herbs from the holy land, including spices like coriander, parsley, and rosemary. The introduction of these new foods and spices prompted a torrent in cookery books, many of which still exist in private cookery archives. By the advent of the 20th century, cookery books are highly popular due to better eduction, people having increased leisure time and being a little richer. The revolution that is television gave us TV cooks and the spin-off recipe books. Which brings us neatly to the present day and the invention of the internet, allowing everyone to access massive numbers of recipes like the ones you can find on our web site. |
We hope you enjoy this 1988 3rd Place_ Gloria Heeter's Best Gingerbr recipe.
