Chocolate Gingerbread Men

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted (preferably natural cocoa powder)
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger (not more than 2 months from purchase)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
• 1/8 cup raisins, for garnish
• 1/8 cup red-hot candies, for garnish

Recipe

• 1 position racks in the top & bottom thirds of the oven, then preheat oven to 375 degrees f.
• 2 with shortening (not on ingredient list) to grease several large baking sheets, then set aside.
• 3 in a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder & cloves until spices & coca are evenly distributed, then set aside.
• 4 in a 2nd large bowl, & using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream shortening & brown sugar until smooth & airy, about 1 minute.
• 5 beat in egg & then the molasses.
• 6 turn off mixer & add prepared flour mixture, then at very low speed beat just until crumbly bits of dough form, but not until the mass begins to cohere into a ball.
• 7 with flour lightly dust a clean, dry work surface as well as your hands.
• 8 turn dough out & knead just until it forms a smooth mass, about 30 seconds.
• 9 divide into thirds & cover them with a clean kitchen towel.
• 10 with flour lightly dust the work surface again & roll one of the thirds to a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. flour the dough & a rolling pin only as necessary.
• 11 use a large gingerbread-man cookie cutter to cut the dough into the desired shapes, then use a metal spatula to transfer them carefully to the prepared baking sheet(s). gather any scraps, lightly dust again with flour & roll out a 2nd time, creating additional gingerbread men.
• 12 decorate the cookies with the raisins & red hots, using one for the eyes & the other for the mouths. additional red hots can be used as buttons on their coats.
• 13 bake for 4 minutes, then rotate sheets top to bottom & front to back.
• 14 bake another 4 minutes, or until cookies feel dry but still are a little soft.
• 15 remove from oven & cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
• 16 cool the baking sheets for 5 more minutes, then regrease them before baking additional batches, as necessary, or work with 2 additional baking sheets, preparing them while the others are in the oven.
• 17 keep no longer than 2 days at room temperature, several more days in the refrigerator, or up to a month in the freezer.