Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies are all about achieving the perfect amount of chewiness, and the perfect amount of spice. We spent time to perfect this recipe for Gingerbread Cookies, so that you can feel good and eat better, with Crystal!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Chilling Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Yield: about 40 cookies, depending on size of cookie cutters used

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 75 ml / 5 tbsp cold water
• 12 g / 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• 438 g / 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 12 g / 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 4 g / 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 g / 1 tsp ground cloves
• 3 g / 3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3 g / 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3 g / 1/2 tsp salt
• 113 g / 1/2 cup Crystal margarine
• 72 g / 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 50 g / 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 120 ml / 1/2 cup molasses

For the icing:

• 240 g / 2 cups icing sugar
• 30 ml / 2 tablespoons milk
• 15 ml / 1 tbsp corn syrup
• 2.5 ml / 1/2 vanilla or almond extract
• food colouring (optional)

Directions

For the cookies:

1. In a small bowl, stir together the water and ground flax seed; set aside.



2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, baking soda and salt.



3. Using an electric mixer beat together the Crystal margarine and sugar until pale and fluffy; 3 minutes. Beat in the flax mixture and molasses. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until no flour is visible.




4. Bring together into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for a minimum of 1 hour (or up-to overnight).
5. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
6. Roll out chilled dough between two sheets of parchment paper (or plastic wrap) to a 1/4 inch (6 millimetre) thickness. Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters and place shapes 2 inches (5 centimetres) apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Re-roll scraps and cut out again, until all the dough is used. Chill cutout cookies in the refrigerator; 20 minutes.



7. Bake cookies, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until golden on the bottom; 11 to 13 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely before decorating with icing.

For the icing:

1. Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Adjust the consistency by adding more icing sugar or milk, if necessary. Add food colouring if desired.
2. Place icing in a piping bag, fitted with a small plain tip, and decorate cooled cookies.

Chef’s Note

• Unbaked cookie dough may be wrapped tightly and frozen for up to 2 months.
• Chilling the cookies after cutting them out helps to keep them keep their shape.