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
Academics have tracked the existence of recipes way back into distant history, in fact as far back as the Egyptians, and potentially, even further back. However, these, ancient cook books were just primitive pictorial instructions for preparing food.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe discovered so far, according to academics are some stone tablets in Sumerian describing the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who drank it feel wonderful. As we move into Roman times 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote some documents which described recipes prepared by wealthy Romans. In his publication, he recounts how the meals were divided into starters, main course and dessert, something we still use today. This early Roman chef describes how the Roman chefs used many herbs and spices, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens like thyme, rue and asafoetida. As we move on, we find two interesting cookery books dating from the 14th Century ; a cookery book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. Surprisingly, they are not about the indian food that is familiar to us all today, but instead recipes for the types of meals on the tables of the rich and wealthy people of those days. Later, in the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought back many new foods, spices and herbs from middle-east cuisine, including parsley and basil. These new foods and spices was responsible for an increase in recipe manuscripts, most of which are kept safe in private libraries. The revolution that is television gave us celebrity chefs and the spin-off recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the invention of computers and the internet, allowing us all to search through thousands 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.
