Gingerbread Men

We're a little (read:waaay) behind this year in the Christmas department. We haven't even decorated our tree yet except for a few stray candy canes. This morning we finally got around to our tradition of baking gingerbread men for decorations. The popcorn and cranberry strands will have to wait until next year!

{gingerbread men}

• 3 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature, softened)
• 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed (I used 1/4 c. succanat)
  
• 1 Tbsp ground ginger
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

1 In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.

2 In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses. Gradually add the flour mixture; combine on low speed. (You may need to work it with your hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.) Divide dough in thirds; wrap each third in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. Before rolling out, let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. If after refrigerating the dough feels too soft to roll-out, work in a little more flour.

3 Heat oven to 350°. Place a dough third on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper or wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate again for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to cut out the cookies. Use either a cookie cutter or place a stencil over the dough and use a knife to cut into desired shapes. Press raisins, chocolate chips, or candy pieces in the center of each cookie if desired for "buttons".

4 Transfer to ungreased baking sheets. Bake until crisp but not darkened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Let sit a few minutes and then use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: If you're planning to use these little men for your tree you'll need to do the following:

• bake cookies for 13-15 minutes (til crispy)
• as soon as they come out of the oven, make a good size hole (using a toothpick) where you want to thread your ribbon through
• leave cookies out for a day or so until they are nice and stale
• thread some skinny red ribbon through the cookie hole, tie a bow using both ends and hang it up!