While you might know Acton as the town with the Old Hide House – it’s also a great little town to visit over the holidays. This recipe came from my grandmother – I still remember visiting her for Christmas and spending the afternoon in her kitchen helping cut out gingerbread men.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup molasses
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vinegar
5 cups flour
Instructions:
• Mix softened butter with brown sugar until fluffy. Add baking powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and molasses and mix well.
• Beat eggs into the mixture until creamy. Stir in the vinegar.
• Mix in the flour pat into two balls, cover with plastic wrap + refrigerate for 2 hours (you can freeze for up to 3 months)
• On a floured surface, roll chilled dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes with cute cookie cutters.
• Bake at 375 degrees, on nonstick cookie sheets, for 6-8 minutes, or until browned around the edges.
• Allow to cool completely before decorating with icing and candies.
For the icing:
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons butter softened
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon milk
Instructions for making icing
• mix powdered sugar with soft butter. Add in almond extract and milk Icing should be stiff enough to use as a candy adherent.
Yield: Makes 8-10 dozen cookies
