Gingerbread Cookies

When I was growing up, it was tradition to bake gingerbread cookies every year around the holidays.  The first recipe I used was from my mom's big Joy of Cooking cookbook, back in the late '70s.  I used that recipe for a long time, until I moved out on my own and started trying other recipes and tinkering with the ingredients.

This is my current recipe, one that I've been using for several years now.  It has more spice and a little less sugar than most recipes, because I like the spices and I don't like things too sweet.  And of course it uses whole wheat flour instead of white.  Bake on the 9-10 minute end for soft, chewy cookies, and a minute or so longer for building structures such as gingerbread trains or houses.

Last year I baked a huge batch of gingerbread men and women.  This year, with Munchkin being 2.5 years old and wanting to be more involved in the kitchen, I decided to build a train with her.  I've never done a train before (only houses) and don't have a pattern, so I winged it free-hand.  Not too shabby, if I say so myself.  Munchkin had a blast and was tickled to see a train materialize in front of her, made of gingerbread and candy at that.  (She's currently obsessed with Thomas the Train.)  I think this will have to be an annual tradition now.  :-)

Gingerbread Cookies
makes 3 dozen men (or 1 train plus leftovers)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1.5 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons orange zest
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• confectioner's sugar (for icing)
• milk (for icing)

Directions:

• Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and blend well.  Add the orange zest and molasses and keep blending until fully incorporated.
• In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
• Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing in one cup at a time.
• Divide dough into two or three equal balls/logs and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, work dough until pliable (it will still be a little crumbly) and roll out to 1/4 inch thick.  Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter.  Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.
• Let cool completely on a cookie rack before icing.

 Icing:

• For gingerbread men:  Place a couple cups of confectioner's sugar in a mixing bowl.  Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach piping consistency (like honey).  Fill a piping bag and pipe details using a #3 tip.
• For building structures:  Place 2 pounds of confectioner's sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add 1/2 cup milk and beat on medium-high with a hand blender.  Add additional milk as necessary to create a thick paste, kind of like a thick toothpaste.  Fill a piping bag and use a #7 or larger tip.
• Cover bowl with any unused icing with a damp cloth or paper towel.

Here's last year's batch:

Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is also not SBD-approved due to the copious amounts of butter and sugar.  But again, I used whole-wheat flour to try to make it a little more healthful.  You can tell it's made with whole-wheat flour, so if you don't like that type of texture, you can make it with regular all-purpose flour as per the original recipe.

I also used mini choco chips tonight instead of the regular ones just because that's what I had in the pantry.  This cookie would probably be delicious with white choco chips too.  Or peppermint chips.

Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from this recipe.
makes 4 dozen large or 5 dozen medium cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons instant espresso dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water
• 3 cups whole-wheat all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

 Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cream together the butter with both sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs.  Then beat in the vanilla extract and dissolved espresso.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips.
• Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients, 1 cup at a time, until fully blended.
• Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 9-10 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Mac and Cheese

Basic mac & cheese modified to be SBD-friendly. I just used reduced-fat cheddar today, but you can mix in any other type of cheese to your liking.  It's delicious with gruyere, but I've yet to find a reduced-fat gruyere that would keep this on the SBD straight and narrow.

Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons Smart Balance
• 4 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 2 cups skim milk
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt to taste
• 2 cups reduced-fat cheddar, shredded
• 1 cup cubed ham (tonight I used leftover Honeybaked from Thanksgiving)
• 1 pound whole wheat elbow macaroni, cooked to al dente per box instructions
• 3 tablespoons grated parmesan
• 3 tablespoons whole wheat panko bread crumbs

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large skillet, melt Smart Balance over medium-high heat.  Add the flour and whisk into a paste.  Continue whisking for a couple of minutes so the flour cooks and loses its raw taste
• Add milk and seasoned salt and continue whisking until smooth.  Bring to a boil to thicken.
• Remove from heat.  Add cheese and continue whisking until the cheese is completely melted.
• Stir in ham and macaroni.  Pour into a baking dish.
• In a small bowl, mix the parmesan and bread crumbs.  Sprinkle on top of mac and cheese.
• Bake for 20 minutes.

Oatmeal Rum Raisin Cookies

Ok, let me start off by stating the obvious: these cookies are not SBD-friendly.  I suppose you could make them so with a few substitutions (Splenda in place of sugar, Smart Balance in place of butter, etc.), but I personally don't use artificial sweeteners, and I love my butter in baked goods.  But they do have oats and whole wheat flour, that counts for something, right?  :-D

I've been making these for as long as I can remember baking cookies.  I recently added the rum twist a few years ago.

Oatmeal Rum Raisin Cookies
makes 2 dozen large or 3 dozen medium cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup rum
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1.5 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups whole wheat all-purpose flour
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Combine rum, vanilla extract and raisins in a small bowl.  Cover and let stand for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, olive oil, sugar and honey until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and blend until fully incorporated. Stir in the rum raisin mixture. 
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, 1 cup at a time, and mix until well-blended.
• Drop by (heaping) teaspoonfuls onto an un-greased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on size of cookies, or until lightly browned.
• Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cookie rack.

Variations:

• Add 3/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips.
• Add 3/4 cup chopped walnuts.