Swedish Gingerbread Cookies

Right before Christmas, I was feeling in need of some holiday spirit.  We went away for Christmas this year, and while that was an absolutely perfect idea for us, it did feel a little strange to not be buying and wrapping presents, decorating the house, and doing other Christmasy things.  Mark helped me and my mom feel a little spirited when he took us to Christmas by Candlelight at Old Sturbridge Village one Friday night, and then the next day, I began my Christmas cookie extravaganza.  I made two different types of cookies, two different types of frostings, and we decorated and baked for the whole weekend!  It was actually a lot of fun, and I have lots of cookie things to share, but for today, all I'll do is give the recipe for the best gingerbread cookie you've ever had: Swedish gingerbread cookies.

This is another one of the handwritten recipes from our orange recipe files.  It's in my aunt Betsy's handwriting, but other than that, I have no source, nor any idea on what makes it Swedish.  It's a pretty easy recipe; the dough does need to be chilled though, so keep that in mind if you're trying to rush!

The combination of flavors of ginger, molasses, orange zest, cinnamon and cloves makes for a sweet, spicy, warm-tasting gingerbread cookie that is definitely going to be your go-to gingerbread cookie recipe from now on.  This makes a lot of cookies (after all, there is almost 4 cups of flour in there!) but the number will obviously depend on the size of your cookie cutters as well as how thick you roll the dough out.  It made 2 trays of cookies for me, ranging from tiny little angels to big gingerbread people, and most of them had been devoured by the next day!

Note: Rach and Sam decorated these ones with a buttercream frosting.

Recipe:

Swedish Gingerbread Cookies
from my Aunt Betsy

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange peel
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon water
3 3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves

Instructions:

1) Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg and mix well.

2) In separate bowl, mix orange peel, molasses and water together.  Beat into mixture.

3) Mix flour, baking soda, and spices and beat into mixture.  Form a ball and chill until cold.

4) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll cookies out and use cooke cutters to cut into desired shapes.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 10 minutes.