Gingerbread Cookies & Buttercream Frosting

Apparently I chose to miss the wrong BUNCO night, because me friend Shay served these gingerbread cookies and they were a hit! ;) So much so that everyone was asking about the recipe and she was sweet enough to share. Thank you Shay! Another friend of hers passed it on to her from a Cutler's Cookie baking class (where do I sign up for that?!), and considering that I had a not-so-great gingerbread cookie baking session earlier this week, I was giddy when these turned out! They are delicious! Christmas in your mouth. :) I just changed a couple minor things, which I noted below. So, happy gingerbread baking! Love this time of year. And I loved getting to make the dough while wearing my sweet Ava...then baked/frosting them while she and brother slept. It was a good sunday indeed. xo

GINGERBREAD COOKIES & BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
(Similar to Cutler's)
1 cup butter (I used salted)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
1/2 teaspoon salt (I didn't add any)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ginger
1 1/4 teaspoon cloves (I used Allspice (1 1/2 teaspoons) because I didn't have ground cloves)
1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I used 1 teaspoon)
4 1/2 cups cake flour (more if needed, so it's not too sticky)
** (if you don't have cake flour you can make your own by replacing 2 Tablespoons of flour for every cup with cornstarch and sifting well...but I use cake flour often, as it's called for in my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, so I advise stocking up:)
***Update with the replacement cake flour...I tried it today and it was definitely not the same. It may have just been me, but I made two batches of dough, one with Soft Silk cake flour, and one with the sifted flour/cornstarch and it was much more dry. So use cake flour if at all possible! :)

First cream butter and sugar (I did it in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment). Add the egg and molasses and stir until combined. In a seperate bowl mix dry ingredients together and gradually stir into the molasses mixture with a spoon. (It becomes a good workout toward the end;) Chill dough in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours. Chilling the dough makes it easier to handle if rolling dough out to make cut out cookies. *** When ready to bake, take the dough out of the fridge then preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop the dough, using an ice cream or large cookie scoop (unless you're using cookie cutters...then you would flour your surface, roll and cut...keep them thick so they stay nice and soft!). Drop dough balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet, about 6 per sheet. I used a cup and pressed them down just a bit.  Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Cookies are done when top is crackled and middle no longer looks wet or shiny. Don't overbake, as they'll continue to cook even after they are out of the oven.

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
1 cup butter, room temperature (I used salted)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
few tablespoons milk, optional

Beat the butter and the powdered sugar together until smooth (I used my mixer with the whisk attachement, but a hand mizer would work too). Add vanilla and beat well. Add milk, a tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is at desired consistency (I added 3 tablespoons to mine). Continue beating until smooth. Making sure the cookies are completely cooled, frost them and ENJOY! The mo' frosting the betta' ;)