1993 1st Place Ginger Cookies

Title: 1993 1st Place Ginger Cookies
Yield: 80 Servings
Categories: Cookies, Holiday 

Ingredients: 

      1 c  Granulated sugar
    1/2 c  Dark corn syrup
    1/2 c  Water
      1 tb Ground ginger
      2 ts Cinnamon
      2 ts Ground cloves
      1 c  Unsalted butter or margarine
      4 c  All-purpose flour
  1 1/2 ts Baking soda
           Liquid food coloring,
           If desired


   Preparation time: 1 1/2 hours Chilling time: 12 hours or more Cooking
  time: 7 minutes
  
   1. Put sugar, syrup, water, ginger, cinnamon and cloves into a large
  saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils and sugar
  dissolves. Remove from heat. Add butter. Stir until butter is melted and
  mixture is no longer very hot.
  
   2. Mix flour and baking soda. Gradually add flour mixture to butter
  mixture and stir to blend thoroughly. Dough will have a soft texture. Place
  dough in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight or at least 12
  hours or as long as 1 week.
  
   3. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove about one-sixth of the dough and knead
  it until it is slightly softened. Roll dough directly onto ungreased cookie
  sheets until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to stamp
  shapes in dough, allowing a 1-inch margin between each cookie. Remove
  excess dough by lifting it and peeling it away. Scraps of dough can be
  kneaded together and re-rolled.
  
   4. Bake until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Allow cookies to cool
  slightly and become crisp before removing them from the cookie sheet. Cool
  thoroughly on wire racks. If desired, you may "paint" the cooled cookies
  using a clean, small paintbrush and food coloring that has been watered
  down slightly. Store cookies in airtight containers.
    Note: After the 12-hour resting period, this cookie dough can be
  hand-molded like clay--rolled, pinched, poked and pressed--and it will keep
  its shape, expanding slightly while baking. Thin cookies will become brown
  and bake quickly, large and thick shapes will require longer baking. Can be
  cut into any shape desired but make the cookies uniformly thick. The
  microwave oven can be used to cook the sugar mixture in step 1.
  
  Judith Taylor, Highland Park from the Chicago Tribune sixth annual Food
  Guide Holiday Cookie Contest December 2, 1993
  Posted to MM-Recipes Digest V3 #339
  
  From: Linda Place 
  
  Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 04:11:40 +0000