It's close enough to the holidays to post this. This is the gingerbread cookie recipe I talked about earlier. The original recipe can be found
here, but the recipe below results in cookies that are full of more awesome.
Holiday Ginger Cookies (Taken From Land-O-Lakes, With Alterations by PatrickRsGhost - in bold)
Cookie Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup
Butter, softened (they named their butter; I use whatever's the cheapest)
1 egg
3 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon
vanilla (I used real vanilla extract...none of that imitation crap!)
3 cups
self-rising flour (they said use all-purpose, along with half a teaspoon of baking soda and quarter of a teaspoon salt. That's all self-rising flour is anyway)
2 to 3 teaspoons
apple pie spice (They said use 1 teaspoon ginger and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Add in nutmeg and cloves for some *real* holiday spicy-goodness!)
1 to 2 teaspoons imitation rum extract (or real rum, if you'd rather)
Frosting Ingredients:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup
Butter, softened (See above.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons milk (I ended up using more than that)
1 to 2 tablespoons *each* red and green colored sugar crystals (Not to be confused with the candy sprinkles you find on cupcakes or doughnuts)
Combine sugar, butter, egg, molasses, rum extract and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add all remaining cookie ingredients. Beat until well mixed. Divide dough in half; wrap in plastic food wrap (I placed the dough in gallon-sized ziploc bags. It's easier.). Refrigerate until firm (1 to 2 hours).
Heat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface, one-half at a time (keeping remaining dough refrigerated), to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with 4-inch cookie cutter. Place cookies, 1 inch apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets (I used aluminum cookies sheets last time. Less mess.). Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. Let stand 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.
(Note: These make soft and chewy cookies. Better than hard and crunchy cookies IMHO.)
For the frosting: Combine powdered sugar, 1/3 cup butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla in small bowl. Beat at low speed, adding enough milk for desired spreading consistency. Stir in red and green colored sugars. Add more sugars if desired. Decorate cooled cookies with frosting as desired.