gingerbread cookies

Just a quick post to thank everyone who sent me well wishes with the move to my new home. I am finally in and have left the money pit behind. Good riddance right? I have a normal house now; one with a working newer stove, a working newer fridge, heat, concrete foundation, etc... Goodbye to the days of ocean water in the basement, families of racoons living in the attic, crappy landlords, fridges in the living room, oh I could go on and on. Right now as I type this I have mountains of boxes to unpack, a kitchen that is partially together, not to mention lots of stress. But everyone tells me the stress will decrease as the days pass--I hope.
Obviously I'm not doing any baking, but thought I'd share a post with you from the days when I had a working oven...way before Thanksgiving. Here is a recipe and photo from my archives (I need to weed through the archives more as I have a lot of stored up recipes and photos).
I'll try my best to keep up with posting and replies on all your blogs--I miss you guys dearly. And miss all your blog posts.

As for these cookies, they are the perfect gingerbread cookies, you will never need another recipe. It hails from the folks at America's Test Kitchen. You can make them flat or thick. And trust me when I say, it has the perfect balance of flavors; nothing too strong nor too weak.

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
from Baking Illustrated
print recipe

3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons softened unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons milk

In a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Process about 10 seconds until combined.
Scatter the butter pieces over the dry mixture and process again until the mixture is fine and sandy, about 15 seconds.
With the machine still on, slowly pour in the molasses and milk and process until the dough forms a soft moist mass, about 10 seconds. It will be VERY soft and sticky. (This dough can also be made in a stand mixer).
Divide the dough into roughly two portions. Place one portion between two sheets of parchment paper, and roll out to about 1/4" thick. Repeat with the other portion of dough.
Leaving the dough between sheets of parchment, stack on a baking sheet and freeze until firm, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Take one of the dough sheets from the freezer and peel off the top parchment sheet, then replace. Flip the dough over and remove the other parchment sheet.
Use desired cutters to cut shapes out of the dough, and transfer to the baking sheets with a metal spatula. The scraps may be gathered and rerolled to be cut into more shapes.
Bake cookies until they just slightly give in the middle when pressed, about 8 to 11 minutes, rotating sheets halfway. Do not overbake or they will became hard crispy gingerbread.
Let cool on sheets for a couple of minutes, then remove and finish cooling on wire racks. Makes about 30 cookies