Gingerbread
Architectural Dough

suitable for building houses and other three dimensional projects - makes two 14”x16” (35cm x 40cm) rectangles or many individual smaller projects

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MATERIALS

bowl, spoon, plastic wrap, cookie sheets, cooling rack, board

cream -

1½ cups (360 ml) margarine or butter (3 sticks), or solid shortening

2½ cups (625 ml) granulated or brown sugar

blend in -

1½ t. (7 ml) salt

1½ t. (7ml) baking soda

7 t. (35 ml) ground ginger

4 t. (20 ml) cinnamon

2 t. (10 ml) ground cloves

2 t. (10 ml) grated nutmeg

1 t. (5 ml) ground cardamom (optional)

stir in -

1½ cups (360 ml) molasses, dark or light

½ cups (125 ml) water

add –

4 cups (1 L) flour, mix

stir in -

4 more cups (1 L) flour, one cup (250 ml) at a time, and mix

PROCESS

  1. make dough
  2. divide in half, wrap and chill or freeze
  3. roll out dough on floured board, ¼” (6 mm) thick
  4. cut patterns or make free-forms
    hint: to make a house, cut rectangles of uniform size, remembering to cut windows, but leave them intact to remove after baking
  5. chill patterns on cookie sheet for 10 minutes in freezer or 15 minutes in refrigerator
  6. bake at 350°F (180°C) 18-20 minutes for walls or 10 minutes for free form designs
  7. cool 1 minute
  8. transfer to wire cooling rack
  9. cool two hours or overnight

VARIATIONS

for added special effects and decorations make - lighter dough

darker dough

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