Colonial Williamsburg Gingerbread Cookies

Confession:  if all of the chocolate on our planet were to disappear, I could survive.

How is this humanly possible, you ask?

Because THIS exists:

Colonial Williamsburg Gingerbread Cookies

Those, dear ones, are the BEST cookies on earth (well, you know, the best cookies other than chocolate chip cookies, Oreos, chocolate covered Oreos, Devil's Food Cake chocolate chip cookies, Rocky Road cookies, and chocolate oatmeal peanut butter cookies).

You know how some people partake of certain foods and beverages only during particular seasons?  For instance, ice cream in the summer, or pumpkin spice drinks and desserts in the fall, or steamy bowls of soup in the winter?  Yeah, well, I don't do that.  While some may limit their gingerbread consumption to holidays only, I would eat these babies everyday if I could.  They are especially yummy in the mornings with a hot cup of coffee. 

I first got this recipe from my college roommate's mom, Mrs. C.  My family actually traveled to Virginia with the C's several years ago, and we ate these cookies fresh from the bakery in Williamsburg.  OH, MYLANTA.  Bliss. 

The first batch I tried did not turn out very well because I used a hand mixer.  Mrs. C. warned me that the dough would be thicker than I expected and that I'd need quite a bit of power to blend the ingredients sufficiently.  She was right.

My second and third batches were fabulous.  I used a Kitchen Aide mixer, and I could definitely tell the difference. 

Don't judge the cookie by the picture, for heaven's sake.  I'm not a fan of getting my hands sticky or floury, so I tried to keep my paws off the dough as much as possible.  The two, sad little gingerbread dudes in my picture are the only two I attempted.  I didn't have the will or the patience to cut out anymore.  I just scooped the dough out by the spoonful and hoped for the best.  (And they were the best cookies ever--aside from the list mentioned above.)

Want to give them a try?

Colonial Williamsburg Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup unsulfered molasses
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

4 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Combine all of the dry ingredients (except the flour) and mix them up well.  Then throw in everything else (except the flour) and continue to mix it up well.  THEN start to add the flour a cup at a time, and watch out for lumps.  Another blog that features this recipe (and way better pictures) says the dough should be smooth and stiff enough to handle without sticking to your fingers.  You can throw in up to a half-cup more of flour if you're concerned about sticking, but I don't think I had this problem. 

Ideally, you should chill the dough before you start to roll it out and cut out shapes, but I skipped this step.  (I don't like dealing with the dough, remember?) 

If you want, you can roll out your chilled dough onto a well-floured surface and get all cutesy with your fancy cookie cutters.  Or, you can go ahead and spoon it out onto a lightly-greased cookie sheet and bake it for 10 to 12 minutes.  Keep an eye on your first batch, though, because you know all ovens are not created equal.  That, and the size of your cookie can cause the cooking times to vary.

Need more details?  You can find more thorough directions of this same recipe if you click on over to The Traveling Spoon, right HERE.  Also, the pictures on that site are way more fabulous than my feeble little attempt. 

Enjoy:)