Christmas / The Best Gingerbread Cookies

Here is the recipe for the best gingerbread cookies ever. I got this recipe from my sister few years ago and I want to share it with everyone today. I don't understand people who have secret recipes that they guard with their lives. That is just weird. I don't mind sharing the joy of baking and cooking. That just doubles the fun if I'm baking and you are baking (*smile*).

Sister Elisa's Best Gingerbread Cookies Ever
-2dl / 0.85 cup of molasses (Finnish syrup)
-2 dl /0.85 cup of sugar
-250g / about a cup of butter
-3 tbls ground cinnamon
-1 tbls gingerbread spice (I used a store bought spice mix but you can also use 1 tsp ground ginger, 1tsp ground gloves, 1tsp ground bitter orange, 1tsp cinnamon. Pumpkin pie spice mix would work ok too!)
-2 tl cardamom
-2 eggs
-9 to 10 dl / 3 3/4 cups of flour (sifted)
-2 tsp baking soda

* bring molasses, sugar and spices to a boil, remove from the heat.
* add butter, let it melt, mix a little, let it cool.
* beat the eggs in the butter-spice-sugar mix.
* add flour-baking soda mix little by little and mix well.
* cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge over night or at least few hours
* next day roll out the dough and make cookies with a cookie cutter

Bake in 200 C / 380 F about 6-8 minutes. Your nose will know! Meaning that when you get a lovely gingerbread cookie smell coming out of the oven, the cookies should be done. If you wait until you smell burnt cookies, you let them be in the oven too long (*laugh*). The color will be nice golden brown.
Let the cookies cool on a wire rack.

After cooling you can decorate the cookies if you wish. You can buy frosting from a store but it is easy to make it yourself too. You will only need:
-2,5dl / 1 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
-1 egg white
-little bit of water (depending how thick you want the frosting to be, add few drops at the time)
-food coloring of your choice
-flavor of choice if you like, for example lemon juice or vanilla

Here are my decorated cookies this year. I opted for soft pastel, pearls and lace-look. I think my cookies turned out very cute (*smile*). I took some of them to work today. I like to surprise my co-workers.

Happy Baking Everyone!! Only 15 more days till Christmas eve! :)