Great Gingerbread Cookies

If there is one type of cookie that seems to encapsulate the holiday's then it has got to be the gingerbread cookies. Being able to make some great gingerbread cookies is a wonderful way to show off to your friends and family. That is, if you are able to share any of the cookies that you will soon be making. After all, while this recipe will make up to six dozen cookies, they may not last long enough to get to the homes of your friends and family—you might just eat them all before hand.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 sticks of softened lightly salted butter
• 1-2/3 cups sugar
• 1 zested orange
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon dried ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup dark molasses
• 1 juiced lemon

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven. Set the temperature of your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and begin working on the dough.
2. Mix the dough. Place the butter, sugar, and orange zest in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat everything together until it is completely smooth. This should take between five and eight minutes. In a separate bowl, begin sifting the flour, baking powder, baking powder, ginger, cloves, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Whisk everything together, and then set the bowl aside. In a third bowl whisk the eggs, lemon juice, and molasses together. After you have blended the wet ingredients together, begin mixing all of the ingredients together. Start by adding the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, and then adding the egg mixture. Continue mixing until everything is well blended, and you have some nice dough ready to work with.
3. Divide and roll. Take the dough out of the mixing bowl and place it on some waxed paper. Divide the cookie dough into half, and then wrap the separate pieces of dough into some plastic wrap. Place the dough into a refrigerator and let it chill for about 15 minutes. Once that time has passed, remove half of the dough and roll it out using a rolling pin and a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out until it is roughly 1/2 inch thick.
4. Cut and cook. Using some cookie cutters, cut the dough out into whatever shapes you desire. Once you have cut out all the cookie shapes that you want, remove the scraps of dough and set them aside. Take a spatula and transfer the shaped cookie dough onto a cookie sheet, and be sure that you leave a little room between the cookies for spreading. Place the cookie sheet into the oven, and allow them to cook for no more than 10 minutes. You will know that the cookies are done when they begin to brown around the edges.
5. Cool and serve. Remove the cookies from the oven, and then set them aside to cool. Frost or decorate the cooled cookies as you would like, and enjoy!