It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!

Our condo is filled with the holly jolly aromas of Christmas because this morning, having woken with a void in my heart where Thanksgiving once lived, I decided to get my festive freak on and fill it with the joys of Christmas. So donning my Santa hat and dancing to cheesy Christmas songs, I fired up the oven and got to work on my first batch of Christmas Cookies!

Christmas cookies are a huge thing, I mean HUGE. In the US and UK we bake Spice Cookies and Gingerbread, in Italy they have Pizzelles, and in Germany there are so many varieties of Christmas biscuit it’s difficult to fit them all in – believe me I have tried! Engulfed in the festive flavours of cinnamon, cloves and allspice, Christmas was always destined for high cookie-dom. However, this Christmas Gingerbread Recipe just has to be my favourite and really epitomises the festive season for me.

To make my Christmas Gingerbread you’ll first need to make up the dry mix by whisking together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves until they are well blended (I used my trusty Tovolo Whip Whisk for this task).

In a separate large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar and egg on medium speed until well blended. Then add the molasses and vanilla and continue to mix until well blended.

Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until blended and smooth. Then divide the dough into two equal sized balls and wrap each half in cling film. You’ll need to let the dough stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours, up to 8 hours. NOTE: the dough can also be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it must be refrigerated. Return to room temperature before using.

Preheat oven to 375°F and prepare the baking sheets by lining with a non-stick baking mat or parchment paper. Then, on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to ¼” thickness. NOTE: the dough is sticky, so sprinkle some flour over the dough and rolling pin to avoid sticking.

Cut out your cookies with your chosen cookie cutters. I used a combination of the Tovolo Ginger Boys and Ginger Girls Cookie Cutter Sets (SORRY these are now sold out on my UK store!) and the Tovolo Straw Cookie Cutter Set (limited stocks left!), which makes cute mini cookies that slide onto your straw – perfect for Santa’s glass of milk on Christmas Eve!

Lay the cookies on the baking sheet, spacing them around 1½” apart.

Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes. NOTE: a shorter baking time will result in a softer American style cookie, whilst longer baking creates a crunchier biscuit.

Once baked, remove the cookies from the oven and leave to cool until they are firm enough to move to a wire rack. Once the cookies are completely cool, you can then decorate the cookies with royal icing, however my icing skills are a little lacking to say the least, so I thought I would spare myself the embarrassment (spot the rather plain looking gingerbread man)!