Whole wheat gingerbread cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, softened

• 1 cup (250 mL) packed golden yellow sugar

• 1/4 cup (60 mL) 100% pure fancy molasses

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

• 1 tsp (5 mL) Great Value Artificial Vanilla Extract

• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) iodized sea salt

• 1 1/2 cups (275 mL) Great Value Whole Wheat Flour

• 1 1/2 cups (275 mL) Great Value All Purpose White Flour

• 2 tsp (10 mL) ground ginger

• 2 tsp (10 mL) ground cinnamon

• 2 tsp (10 mL) Great Value Baking Cocoa

• 2 tsp (10 mL) Great Value Baking Soda

Preparation

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses, egg, vanilla, and salt until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients; add to wet ingredients and mix until well blended and dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before handling. If chilled overnight, allow the dough to warm up slightly or it may crack when it is rolled out.

Preheat oven to 350F (175C.) Line two baking trays with parchment paper, set aside. Divide dough into 4 pieces; roll out one at a time keeping the remaining dough refrigerated.

Roll dough to ¼ inch (½ cm) thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes using floured cookie cutters. Carefully transfer to prepared baking trays.

Bake for 7-9 minutes, rotating trays top to bottom halfway through, or until cookies are set. Cool 1-2 minutes on the tray then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

Tips:

Make a simple Royal Icing to decorate. It will harden overnight, making the cookies stackable for storage. Lightly whisk together 1 egg white and ¼ tsp (1 mL) lemon juice. Gradually beat in 1 ½ - 2 ½ cups (375-625 mL) of icing sugar to desired consistency. Tint using food colouring, then pipe onto cookies using a zipper storage bag with the corner snipped off. Allow the icing to dry overnight before storing in an airtight container.

More cookie recipes are available at www.walmart.ca/recipecentre.