Gingerbread Ornaments

Gingerbread dough for craft projects that makes ornaments to hang or put in baskets that look and smell like real cookies and are made with normal ingredients but bake up rock hard and keep for years and smell great for years. Use gingerbread dough and your favorite cookie cutters to make gingerbread man garlands, gingerbread ornaments and houses.

Recipe #1

3 tabs. shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 teas. baking soda
3/4 cup water
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon of cloves, ginger and cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy, stir in molasses. Sift the dry ingredients together. Stir them into shortening mixture in 3 parts alternating with a 1/4 cup of water each time. Dough will be stiff. Refrigerate overnight. Cut dough into 3 pieces. Knead to warm dough slightly, then roll each piece out about 1/4 inch thick. Cut cookie out with a gingerbread pattern of your choice

Use a drinking straw to punch hole in center if ornament will be hanging. Place cookies on cookie sheet and bake 20 minutes, turn oven off and let cool in oven.

Remove from cookie sheet and place on rack to dry for about 3 days to totally harden.

These cookies are purely for decorative purposes and not to be eaten.

If you wish you can seal cookies with 3 coats of clear acrylic and decorate with colorful acrylic paints when dry.

Recipe #2

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup cold water
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix sugar, shortening, molasses and cold water in a large bowl.

Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350; spray the pan with cooking spray.

Shape or cut out your ornaments.

Bake 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly brown.

Immediately loosen from pan, but do not remove.

Cool 5 minutes, remove from pan onto wire rack.

Cool completely

Scented Cookie Dough Ornaments

4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup salt
1/4 cup cinnamon
3 Tbls nutmeg
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbls ground cloves

Add water to the dry ingredients and stir until the dough is the consistency of modeling clay or softened Fimo.

Shape with hands or use cookie cutters of your choice and place on an non-greased pan or pan lined with parchment paper.

*Remember to poke a hole in the top before baking if you plan on hanging the ornament. The resulting hole will be nearly half the size after baking.

Bake at 200 degrees for one hour.

Cool and finish with coat of water-based polyurethane.

Important note: Adult supervision and participation is required for this activity.