How Do You Make Gingerbread Christmas Ornaments?
These gingerbread ornaments look and smell like edible gingerbread – but don’t eat them! They become very hard after they are baked and are meant to be painted and then hung as Christmas ornaments. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat shortening and sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in molasses. Sift baking soda, ground cloves, ginger, cinnamon and flour together in a large bowl. Stir this mixture plus water into the sugar and shortening mixture, alternately adding the water and baking soda mixture to the shortening mixture. Stir until mixed thoroughly and refrigerate 6-8 hours. Cut dough into three equal pieces, knead each piece lightly and then use a rolling pin to roll out each piece to a 1/4-inch thickness. Use holiday cookie cutters made in the shapes of gingerbread people and houses to cut shapes out of the dough. Use a medium- to large-sized drinking straw or the end of a wooden chopstick to make a hole at the top of each shape. Put cookies on cookie sheets and bake for about 20
