8tablespoons(112g)butter(1 stick), at room temperature
½cup(110g)of brown sugar
1egg
½cup(169g)of molasses
2 ¼cups(281g)of flour + flour for dusting a counter and rolling pin
1 ½teaspoonof ground cinnamon
1 ½teaspoonof ground ginger
¾teaspoonof baking soda
¼teaspoonof ground nutmeg
⅛teaspoonof ground cloves
⅛teaspoonof salt
For the icing:
1 ½cup(180g)of powdered sugar
2tablespoonsof milk
2teaspoonsof light corn syrup
½teaspoonof pure vanilla extract or imitation vanilla flavor
Instructions
Cream the butter and brown sugar together.
Add in the egg and molasses and mix again until smooth.
Whisk the flour, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves and salt together in a separate bowl.
Add it to the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
Lay out a large piece of cling wrap on a counter and lay the dough out in the center of it.
Press the dough out into a flat disk or rectangle and cover with the remaining cling wrap.
Refrigerate for 6 hours.
Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350 °F (177 °C) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray it with non-stick spray.
Sprinkle a bit of flour onto a counter or a smooth surface and a rolling pin.
Remove the dough from the plastic wrap and roll it out into a ¼ inch thick rectangle or square.
Using a cookie cutter, cut out as many shapes as you can get from the dough.
Remove the excess dough from around the cookies and lay 8-10 cookies on the prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 9 minutes then remove from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes.
Remove them from the pan and let them cool completely on a cookie cooling rack.
Repeat the process by forming the scraps into another ¼ inch thick layer, cutting out the shapes and baking until all of the dough has been used. (Let the pan cool completely before placing a new batch of cookies to be baked as this will keep them from spreading out.)
To make the icing, sift the powdered sugar into a medium size bowl and pour in the milk, corn syrup and vanilla extract.
Pour the icing into a piping bag or a large Ziploc bag and cut a small pin size hole in the bottom.
Decorate the cookies and let them dry for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
These cookies can be stored for up to 1 week in an airtight container or un-iced for 2 weeks.