Project Cookies

Let’s face it, the world would be a much darker place if we didn’t have Lenny & Larry cookies. There are thousands of different cookies in the world, and I am on a mission to try them all. A cookie Bucket List, if you will…

I have found that in general, cookies tend to fall into three different categories: Everyday, Holiday, and Project.

Everyday cookies are the ones you can whip up fairly quickly and easily when that cookie craving kicks in and you must have cookies now! These would be your chocolate chip, oatmeal, snickerdoodle, peanut butter (you know, the classics).

Holiday cookies are just that. These are the cookies you make for Christmas, Hannukah, Easter, etc. They are the family favorites or the recipes that are only taken out to be used at special times of the year. These can be drop cookies, bars, biscotti, rugelach, thumbprints, shortbread, press cookies…the list goes on.

Last but not least is the category I call Project Cookies. These cookies are the high maintenance diva cookies. While most of these recipes can generally be found under the holiday heading, these require a heck of a lot more planning and time to make them turn out right, and can have difficult to find ingredients, or they are just fussy to make.

Hence, they have their own category. Examples include springerle cookies, molded shortbread, French macaroons, Swedish Rosettes, any sugar cookie using royal icing and lastly, Gingerbread in molded cookie, house or man form. These are the cookies that take two days to make.

Don’t get me wrong, they are worth it. And I am planning to do little project baking this weekend to get in the holiday mood. I seem to not be there quite yet. However, a batch of Molded Gingerbread Cookies should help me transform into Mrs Claus.

This past November, I gave my sister a springerle rolling pin for her birthday and I will admit I had a hard time giving it away. (I am hoping she will let me borrow it!) While you can obviously use it for springerle cookies it is also fun, and the ingredients are easier to find, to use it for Gingerbread.

Molded Gingerbread Cookies
Yield is dependent upon the size of the mold.

Dry Ingredients
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
2 tablespoons water

Directions
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and set aside. Then measure the wet ingredients in a large measuring cup, and mix thoroughly.

Combine the flour mixture and the liquid mixture together either by hand or in a heavy standard mixer using the flat blade (not the whisk). Mix until the dough holds together, adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of water only if necessary to bind the dough. Knead the dough into a solid mass, and place into a tightly sealed zipper bag.

Let the dough rest for 1 hour or refrigerate overnight

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough with a plain rolling pin about 1/2 inch thick, depending on the depth of your cookie mold. Using a pastry brush, flour the surface of your cookie mold.

Press firmly onto the flat surface of the dough and then lift the mold straight up. Flour the mold each time, for every pressing.

Cut and place the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet. And, allow the cookies to dry for 8 to 12 hours.

Bake the cookies at 300ºF for 12 minutes. Large cookies will need 14-15 minutes.