By Shannon Cole
This festive recipe, perfect for a night at home in front of the fire or for your next holiday party, uses one of my favorite secret ingredients, Fiori Di Sicilia, an Italian essence with the aroma of citrus and vanilla sold at .
Read Shannon’s blog at . This recipe, adapted from ., makes 5 dozen to 6 dozen cookies.
Ingredients
COOKIES
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup dark molasses
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
FROSTING
1/8 teaspoon Fiori Di Sicilia (or orange zest)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons milk or cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, stir all dry ingredients together. In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add brown sugar and eggs and beat until well mixed, then add molasses and vinegar and beat again. Stir in dry ingredients.
Use a cookie scoop to space and drop dough 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, until cookies have puffed and flattened. Do not overbake. Remove from oven and cool completely.
In small bowl, mix frosting ingredients with wire whisk. Holding cooled cookies by the edges, dip tops into the frosting. Allow to cool, icing side up, on racks until the icing hardens.
Store between layers of wax paper in an airtight container.
