Grown-Up Gingerbread Cookies
Grown-up gingerbread cookies, also known as whiskey gingerbread cookies! These extra spicy gingerbread cookies are inspired by Swedish pepparkakor cookies, with a bit of whiskey added to really bring out the spice flavor! Cardamom and cinnamon forward. The alcohol in the dough should bake-off, so you probably could give these to children, but they may not like the spice forward flavor.
These grown-up gingerbread cookies bake up sturdy and very chewy, but not tough! That means this dough makes a great gingerbread house. Just roll it out and use a printable template to cut out the dough. I free-handed mine (hence why it doesn't fit together perfectly) but I based it on this template. After it bakes and cools, stick it together and decorate it with very thick royal icing, like this recipe. Be patient while constructing it, you'll probably have to hold the pieces together for a while until the icing starts to set. For this reason, it's best to build gingerbread houses with friends! And, maybe skip the cocktails until you manage to 'glue' the house together.
I used half the dough for a gingerbread house and half for cut-out cookies. So, one batch of dough should make two gingerbread houses or a few dozen cookies. I used tiny cookie cutters, hence the 82 servings. Regular cookie cutters would probably make about 60 cookies. If you're not in the mood to bake cut-out cookies after the dough is chilled you can just scoop balls of dough onto the cookie sheet and flatten them before baking!
I like to use white whole wheat flour so I can pretend these are somewhat healthy, also because I like the slightly nutty taste. But, you can substitute all-purpose flour if you want. Both work equally well. You don't want to use cake flour because you want them chewy, but you also don't want to use bread flour because it'll make them tough.
These are delicious on their own, spicy and sweet. But, I like these iced with a simple icing. Just powdered sugar with a few teaspoons of milk and some vanilla extract. They'd also be delicious dipped in vanilla buttercream. Mmmm, cookie charcuterie board anyone? No matter how you serve them, if you like a little spice in your life you'll love these.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1/3 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 2 tbsp whiskey (whatever kind you like)
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper (or white pepper)
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp brown sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 2/3 cup white whole wheat flour (or all purpose flour)
Instructions
Measure out the flour and the baking soda and set aside
In a microwave-safe mixing bowl, add the butter, corn syrup, and molasses. Microwave until the butter is melted. 
Add the whiskey and all of the spices to the mixing bowl and stir. 
Add the brown sugar and salt to the bowl and stir.
Add half of the flour to the bowl and combine.
Add the rest of the flour to the bowl and mix until you can't see any more flour. You can use your hands if it becomes too hard to mix with a spoon. - Cover and place in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.
- When you're ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 350°F (177°C) and butter a large cookie sheet.
- Lay out two large sheets of waxed paper and sprinkle a layer of flour onto it.
Place your dough on the paper and sprinkle flour on top. 
Roll out the dough, adding more flour as needed, until it's about 1/8 of an inch (3 mm) thick. 
Start cutting out your cookies and place them onto the cookie sheet. You can place them pretty close together since they don't spread much, just make sure they aren't touching. 
When your cookie sheet is full, place it in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. 
When the cookies are cooled you can ice them if desired. 
Enjoy! These keep for over a week when well wrapped, so they're great for sending to friends.