Ginger Bella Cookies From Rachael's Sister Maria | Gingerbread Cookies
In honor of Rach's pup Bella, her sister Maria uses a dog cookie cutter on her classic gingerbread cookie dough. To decorate, she makes blue eyes with colored frosting and a white bone-shaped bow. Hello, Bella Boo Blue!
For more of Maria's Christmas cookie recipes, check out her Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, Holiday Teddy Bear Cookies, Holiday Spritz Cookies and Butter Bella Cookies For Dogs.
- 3½ cups flour, plus more for surface
- 1 cup molasses
- ½ cup packed light-brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- Colored frosting and assorted sprinkles, for decorating
In a large bowl, combine the flour, molasses, brown sugar, butter, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, allspice, cloves and ¼ cup cold water. Using an electric mixer, beat on low speed until blended. Gather into a ball, divide in half, flatten each half into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Position racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven; preheat to 350˚F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 disk of dough into a ¼-inch-thick round. Using lightly floured cookie cutters, cut out shapes. Repeat with the second disk. Gather scraps, then re-roll and cut out more cookies. Arrange on 2 nonstick or parchment-lined baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake until cookies do not spring back when touched, rotating the sheets and reversing from the top to bottom racks halfway through, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack; let cool completely. Decorate as desired.