Neva Tee's Gingerbread
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This is my late Mom-Mom's gingerbread recipe. Every year, she'd make my cousins' and my brother and me a gingerbread house for Christmas. The houses are time-intensive, and require a lot of patience and, in my experience, ingenuity. If you don't have the time to make a gingerbread house, this recipe is perfect for roll and cut cookies, and the builders icing will work just fine to decorate the cookies. And if you decide to go that route, don't forget the candy decorations!
Ingredients
  • For the Dough--From Neva's Collection (can be used for gingerbread houses, cookies, or crusts):
  • 1 cup shortening (Crisco)
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. ground ginger
  • 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup dark corn syrup
  • 2 eggs (room temperature)
  • 5½ cups AP flour, divided
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • For the builder's icing:
  • 3 large egg whites, room temperature
  • 4¾ cups powdered sugar
  • ½ tsp cream of tartar
  • Candies of choice (M&Ms, candy canes, Hugs, Kisses, peppermint, chocolate bars, gum drops, etc)
Instructions
  1. For the Dough: (written verbatim from recipe card)
  2. In a large bowl, cream shortening with brown sugar, cinnamon, and ground ginger until fluffy. Beat in corn syrup and eggs until well blended. Mix 2 cups of flour with the baking soda; beat into creamed mixture. Stir in remaining 3½ cups flour, working with hands if necessary to smooth dough. Divide into four parts and wrap airtight and chill a couple hours or up to overnight.
  3. When ready to roll, let warm up slightly or until dough is pliable.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Don't be afraid to use extra flour on the dough and your hands. Roll ¼ inch thin and cut in desired shapes. See hints below for cookie house patterns.
  5. Place shapes on parchment paper and bake regular sized cookies for 7-8 minutes and larger pieces (walls and roof) for 10-12 minutes.. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.
  6. For the builders icing: In a large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar together with hand mixer at medium speed. Add powdered sugar, ½ to ¾ cup at a time, mixing at high speed after each addition. Once all the sugar is added, beat at high speed for four(ish) minutes or until thickened. Use immediately or refrigerate until ready to use. If refrigerated, let sit a few minutes at room temperature and stir until icing softened enough to squeeze out of a piping bag.
  7. When ready to decorate, use a piping bag with a #76 or #96 tip. Fill with icing and assemble the base. You may need to add a good bit of icing to help keep the walls standing. Use soup cans on either side of the gingerbread walls to prop them up while the icing dries completely. Add the roof.
  8. When adding candy, place a small dot of builders icing on the back of each piece and place on the cookies, holding it in place while the icing dries.
Recipe by Sense of Taste at https://sensetaste.com/neva-tees-gingerbread-cookie-house-recipe/