By Sidonie Maroon , The Food Co-op’s Culinary Educator , abluedotkitchen

Follow Sidonie on The Food Co-op’s Facebook group Cooking with the Co-op

Recipes included: Rye Gingerbread Cookies, ChickPea Gingerbread Cookies

One of my holiday traditions is making gingerbread cookies. Because I’m an art teacher, I’ve added techniques from ceramics to my cookie baking. I don’t care for icing, so instead I add texture and emboss the dough by using stamps, molds, and found objects from nature and around the house. Every year I get better at my cookie art. I’ve discovered that cookie baking isn’t just for kids. I’ve had my better baking sessions with teens and twenties, because they’re so creative and super into upholding traditions.

Since I won’t be baking with those outside of my household this season, I’m setting up a virtual cookie party with friends and family. I’m sending them the recipes and everyone will have their dough ready when the party begins. No need for candies or sprinkles! Together, we’ll post images and face-time, making up different themes as we go along. Maybe we’ll add in storytelling for our cookies, songs, dances… who knows?!

We’ll have several themed gingerbread parties on successive nights.

House Cookies

Not the whole gingerbread house, but a “house cookie”. I tried this by printing an online “witch’s house” coloring page. I used this one tiny witch’s cottage . Increase the size to 100% and cut out the outline and major windows. Roll out the dough to ¼ inch and lay down the template. Using a utility knife, cut out the house, windows and doors. Set the cut out cookie on a scrap of parchment paper.

Now the fun begins — Use the dough scraps to make trim, roof shingles etc. Use piping tools to make marks and impressions. Use forks, chopsticks, anything that will make an interesting mark. You can distort the house shape to make it more fairy tale. Make animals, people, and other things to go with the house. Because there isn’t any 3-D construction this project doesn’t frustrate, instead all the creative energy goes into designing the edifice. Chill the cookie for 10 minutes before baking. Bake at 350F for 7 to 9 minutes depending on its thickness.

Eat warm or cooled with a glass of milk or cocoa.

Angel Cookies

This one’s fun. Start with a large circle cutter or make one. Slice the circle so it makes two wings. Attach the wings in back and cut out a head circle to attach. Add on a face and embellishments with scrapes and marks. This is a good jumping off place for other people and creature shapes as the wings become arms or turn into something completely different. Make a whole angelic choir with a giant tree, or sun, or whatever which way you roll. What’s important is to make cookies that are art, mythic and edible. Chill the cookie for 10 minutes before baking. Bake at 350F for 7 to 9 minutes depending on its thickness.

Mandala Cookies

Cut out a giant circle and create a cookie based on geometry with patterns and embellishments. Cut out stained glass openings. The only limits are your imagination and the strength of the dough. Chill the cookie for 10 minutes before baking. Bake at 350F for 7 to 9 minutes depending on its thickness.

Cookie Cutters Go Wild

Use cookie cutters to create a basic shape and then mold and pinch into the shape you want. Embellish and mark to your heart’s desire. Chill the cookie for 10 minutes before baking. Bake at 350F for 7 to 9 minutes depending on its thickness.

Tips and techniques

If you have one, use a parchment lined tortilla press instead of rolling out dough

Break out of the mold: one year everyone made Greek Gods and Goddess Cookies

Use forks, chopsticks, and small cookie cutters to add dimension.

Start with cookie cutter shapes and embellish from there.

Keep it fun, don’t stress, have doughs made up ahead, delegate prep and clean-up.

Express yourself

Note on the recipes — Yes, you can replace white flour for the rye in the first recipe. You can use spices you have on hand and you can substitute light molasses for dark.

Otherwise stick to the recipe.

 

Rye Gingerbread Cookies

Makes 15 average sized gingerbread people

Ingredients

2 ½ cups/300g rye flour

½ cup/80g potato starch

½ cup/70g tapioca starch

2 tablespoons/12g flaxmeal

½ cup/85g whole cane brown sugar

¾ cup/165g/1 ½ sticks cold unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) cut into small chunks

1 cup/318g unsulphured blackstrap molasses

All the spice mix

2 teaspoons cinnamon

4 whole cloves

½ teaspoon allspice berries

1 teaspoon coriander seed

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

½ teaspoon peppercorns

4 green cardamom pods

1 tablespoon dried ginger powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt

Spice mix instructions

1. Combine all spices in a coffee or spice grinder

2. Grind into a powder

3. Sift through mesh strainer

Making the Dough

1. Assemble ingredients

2. Make spice mix

3. Cut butter pieces

4. Measure out molasses (oil the measuring cup for easy clean-up)

5. In a food processor, add dry ingredients spin until combined

6. Add butter pieces, pulse 10 times

7. With machine running, add molasses until the dough comes together

8. Portion out dough into 14 balls with a ¼ cup measure. Each ball will weigh approx. 75g

9. Press each ball lightly into a 2 inch/ 5.5cm disk, cover and chill for ½ hour. If your dough is frozen, allow it to thaw until you’re able to roll it.
   
   Notes: The dough is naturally soft and best worked chilled. Keep your scraps cold as you go along. You can make the dough by hand.

Forming and baking the cookies

1. Gather cookie cutters, rolling pin, chopsticks, pastry wheel... anything you can find that will make interesting textures or impression

2. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C

3. Lightly flour individual work areas

4. Work on small pieces of parchment so that the cookies are lifted to the cookie sheet on the parchment paper

5. Cookies will need to be a similar thickness to bake evenly. Dough rolled ¼ inch/6.5mm thick is great.

6. Encourage everyone to work at their own level and have fun expressing themselves.

7. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Cookies will be soft when hot and firm up as they cool.

Why rye flour?

Rye is the traditional grain for gingerbread cake and cookies. It’s moist and doesn’t toughen like wheat because it has less gluten and a more complex flavor.

Why potato, tapioca, starches and flax meal?

Potato and rye compliment each other. The potato starch helps produce the moist chew in the cookie centers. Don’t confuse potato starch with potato flour!

Tapioca starch creates the wonderful crispy edge on the cookie.

Flax meal is a powerful binder and makes a cookie that won’t crumble.

Why unsulphured blackstrap molasses?

I love the rich, dark flavor. If you don’t, then substitute honey. Historically, gingerbread was made with honey.

Why whole spices?

They have a superior flavor! If you want excellent results, then always start with whole spices, it isn’t any harder than grinding your morning coffee.

Chickpea Gingerbread Cookies

Makes 7-10 averaged sized gingerbread people   

Rollable dough made without grains or added starches. Delicious, but you will need a Vitamix to grind the flour. 

Ingredients

Dry

½ cup pre-washed quinoa, heaping

⅓ cup raw chickpeas

½ cup raw buckwheat groats

2 tablespoons flax meal

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup coconut sugar

Spices

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 whole cloves

¼ teaspoon allspice berries

½ teaspoon coriander seed

½ teaspoon fennel seed

¼ teaspoon whole peppercorns

¼ teaspoon decorticated cardamom (taken out of pods)

1 ½ teaspoons powdered ginger

Wet

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick) cut into small pieces 

½ cup black strap molasses

Directions

1. Using a Vitamix or high-powered blender, grind all the dry ingredients including into a flour. I run the machine at the highest speed for 1 minute.

2. Sift through a sieve over a large mixing bowl.

3. Return the flour to the Vitamix. Add the butter pieces and pour in the molasses. I make a small well into the top of the flour. Mix at a medium high speed until a soft dough forms.

4. Remove the dough. Break into two even balls and form into flat disks. Chill the dough for 20 minutes.

5. Roll out dough and cut into desired shapes. This dough also makes molded shapes and raised forms well. Gather cookie cutters, rolling pin, chopsticks, pastry wheel... anything you can find that will make interesting textures or impressions.

6. Have baking sheets ready. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C

7. Work on small pieces of parchment and lift the parchment to the baking sheet. Cookies will need to be a similar thickness to bake evenly. Dough rolled ¼ inch/6.5mm thick is great.

8. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Cookies will be soft when hot and firm up as they cool.