Holiday Gingerbread Recipe (Access Hollywood Live)

The holidays are a great excuse to fire up the oven and bake – plus, the kids love to join in!

And nothing says the holidays like cookies, pies – and of course, gingerbread houses.

Cookie guru, Eleni Gianopulos, who founded Eleni’s New York Cookies, stopped by Access Hollywood Live to demonstrate how to decorate a gingerbread house, and here, she shares her recipe for ginger cookies!

Ginger Cookie Dough Recipe

(Makes 3 Dozen)

• 6 ounces unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Preheat oven to 300F. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder and soda, and spices. Whisk together until fully combined and set aside. In a mixing bowl combine butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape bowl and add molasses. Beat on speed 2 for 2 minutes. Scrape bowl and add eggs and vanilla. Scrape bowl and add flour mixture beating until just combined. Refrigerate dough for 3 hours or overnight. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to 1/8” thickness. Using your cutters, cut out holiday shapes & lift the cookies to the baking sheets. Gather up leftover dough, roll it out again and cut out more shapes.

Bake cookies at 300F for 14 minutes for a crisper cookie, or 350F for 8 minutes for a softer baked cookie. Place them on a wire rack to cool.

Royal Flood Icing

• 3 oz. pasteurized egg whites
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

In a large mixing bowl combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy. Add confectioners’ sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny. Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add food coloring, if desired. For immediate use, transfer icing to pastry bag or heavy duty storage bag and pipe as desired. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

**For stiff “outlining” icing: Take a quarter of the icing & set aside. Use mixer or by hand slowly add confectionary sugar. Get the icing just stiff enough to create a line that traps the looser flood icing.

For more on Eleni’s cookies, check out www.elenis.com.