Festive cookies with cocoa, ginger and cinnamon

 The other day I found a recipe in their bins, which once found one foreign resource. Festive Christmas cookies, decorated with sugar snowflakes, wreaths and snowmen, reminded me of my childhood, my grandmother's Christmas gingerbread happy evenings and exciting feeling of the approaching holiday.

Christmas cookie recipe is quite simple to perform, although it may seem that it is not. Contained in the list of ingredients required products can be easily found in any good supermarket or specialty baker's / confectionary store. And do not be confused by the presence of molasses and cream of tartar - without them, this cookie may not happen.

Festive cookies with cocoa, ginger and cinnamon

If you're afraid to experiment with festive cakes, try to cook biscuits in advance, taking, for example, only part of the ingredients. I have done just that, for the advance did not know the result, but he eventually surpassed all expectations!

So, for Christmas cookies, we need:

  • 250 g of flour;
  • 3 tbsp. l. unsweetened cocoa powder (I use the "gold label");
  • 1/4 h. L. salt;
  • 1/2 h. L. baking powder;
  • 1 hr. L. ground cinnamon;
  • 1 tbsp. l. grated fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon Dry ground ginger (in powder form);
  • 1/2 h. L. freshly grated nutmeg or 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg;
  • 1/2 h. L. ground cloves;
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (or replace it with freshly squeezed lemon juice);
  • 115g unsalted butter (room temperature);
  • 165 g brown sugar;
  • 100 g of regular sugar;
  • 1 egg;
  • 185 g of molasses;
  • icing sugar for decoration.

Preheat oven to 175 ° C. Cover the pastry sheet in advance or baking tray with baking paper.

Festive cookies with cocoa, ginger and cinnamon

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, spices, cream of tartar for 20-30 seconds and set aside.

Festive cookies with cocoa, ginger and cinnamon

In a bowl, combine whipping with a mixer, cream butter, korichney and regular sugar. Need to whip at medium speed for about two minutes (I call it "to light fluffy"). Slightly reducing the speed of the mixer, carefully hammer in oil-sugar mass of one egg and molasses.

Now we need to carefully add the dry ingredients prepared in a mixture of oil and neenergichno mix. The dough is ready. Begins to form small balls of it and lay them on the prepared baking sheet. Do not forget to give each cookie ball shape, slightly priplyusnuv inside of his hand.

Bake cookies on average lattice oven for 15-20 minutes. When Christmas cookies is ready, turn off the oven and leave it there for another 5 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool it completely, then you can start decorating it.

Festive cookies with cocoa, ginger and cinnamon

For decoration I used paper stencils and sifted powdered sugar. Stencil you can make yourself or buy a specialized candy store. If you do not have time to decorate cookies - just pripylte it with powdered sugar using a fine sieve.

Festive cookies with cocoa, ginger and cinnamon

Anyone who decides to use this cookie recipe, I advise in advance to find the cream of tartar and molasses to the last moment not to be without the necessary ingredients. Good luck to you!