I think one of my favorite flavors of Christmas has to be gingerbread. I love how you can make all sorts of different things with the same flavor…gingersnaps, gingerbread houses, hot cocoa flavor, and last but not least the classic gingerbread man!! We got a book this year from the library called “The Gingerbread Pirates” and it instantly became Will’s favorite. So we of course had to make our own “Captain Cookie”. I’ve grown up using this recipe and it is a family favorite. The spice isn’t too strong and just adds the perfect warmth to each cookie.

If it is just our family eating them, I normally cut the recipe in half and it ends up being around 2 cookie sheet pans of gingerbread men. My dough sometimes seems dry or crumbly when rolling out but I try to roll it flat and push it together as much as possible. When it cooks, the crumbles all stick together anyway!

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 oil
• 1 cup molasses
• 1/2 hot water
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6-7 cups flour

Directions

1. Add sugar, oil, molasses, and water to a bowl. Using the hot water to rinse all the molasses from the measuring cup. Mix.
2. Mix in eggs and stir to combine.
3. Mix dry ingredients together, then add to wet mixture.
4. Refrigerate dough overnight (or for at least 2-3 hours so that it
5. Spray counter and cookie sheet with cooking spray. Roll out dough and cut into desired shapes.
6. Bake at 350* for 8-10 minutes.
7. Allow to cool and frost with icing if desired. Store in air tight container. Cookies freeze well and are softer and more flavorful after freezing.