Ingredients

The following ingredients have 6 Servings
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/3 packed cup plus 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup molasses, do not use blackstrap, which is bitter.
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp warm water

Instruction

  • Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Put your cookie stamps in the freezer to chill.
  • Cream together the butter, sugar, and molasses in a stand mixer or with electric beaters. Beat in the egg yolk.
  • Sift together the dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beating on low until the dough comes together.
  • Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until all the floury crumbles are incorporated. Flatten the dough into a disk and then roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness. I did not have to chill my dough before rolling, but if yours is very soft, you may want to.
  • Press the cookie stamps firmly into the dough, and then use a round cookie cutter slightly larger or slightly smaller than the stamp itself to cut out the cookies. Note: your cookie stamp shouldn't stick, but if yours does, your dough may have needed a bit more flour. Try flouring the cookie stamp before stamping, or put the cookie stamp in the fridge to chill it first.
  • Transfer the cookies to a lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. You don't want to over bake these cookies, so do a test cookie or two to figure out the best timing for your oven. The cookies will be soft when you remove them from the oven, but will firm up as they cool.
  • Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the pan before carefully transferring to a rack to cool completely.
  • While the cookies are baking whisk the glaze ingredients together until they become a smooth thin glaze. Add more water if the glaze is too thick, it should have the consistency of maple syrup or a thin honey.
  • Brush the cooled cookies with the glaze. You want the glaze to be thick enough to settle into the design for a beautiful emphasis. It will become more translucent as it dries.
  • Let the glaze set up fully before serving or storing.