Meringue-Iced Soft Gingerbread Cookies
Gingerbread cookies aren’t just for Christmas. In fact, they may even taste more like a treat after the holidays when the rich flavors of molasses, ginger, and cinnamon aren’t everywhere. For the meringue frosting to get crisp, it needs to dry on the cookies 2 hours before baking.
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Gingerbread cookies aren’t just for Christmas. In fact, they may even taste more like a treat after the holidays when the rich flavors of molasses, ginger, and cinnamon aren’t everywhere. For the meringue frosting to get crisp, it needs to dry on the cookies 2 hours before baking.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. allspice or ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 6 oz. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup light-brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- Decorating sugar, optional
Meringue
- 2 egg whites from large eggs
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp. lemon extract, optional
Preparation
1 To make Cookies: Whisk or sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice, and pepper in medium bowl. Set aside.
2 Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar with electric mixer until smooth; beat in molasses
and egg. Beat in flour mixture until just combined.
Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap in plastic wrap,
and chill 1 hour, or up to five days.
3 Line three baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap 1 disk chilled dough, and roll out to ¼-inch thickness on well-floured work surface. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. (Any shape will work so long as there aren’t too many sharp edges.)
4 To make Meringue: Beat egg whites with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in confectioners’ sugar ¼ cup at a time, then beat 1 to 2 minutes, or until mixture is thick and glossy and soft peaks form. Beat in lemon extract (if using).
5 Spread thin layer of Meringue over each cookie with back of spoon or spatula. Let Meringue dry on cookies
2 hours at room temperature.
6 Preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle cookies with decorating sugar, if using. Bake Cookies 8 to 10 minutes, or until meringue is set but still white and cookies are firm. Cool on pan.
Nutrition Information
- Calories 92
- Carbohydrate Content 15 g
- Cholesterol Content 12 mg
- Fat Content 3 g
- Fiber Content 0.5 g
- Protein Content 0.5 g
- Saturated Fat Content 2 g
- Sodium Content 64 mg
- Sugar Content 10 g