Gingerbread Boys

Gingerbread Boys

• 1

  Cream butter or margarine and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Blen in molasses. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Add flour mixter alternately with water, beating thoroughly after each addition. Chill.

• 2

  Roll out chilled dough a little at a time on a bloured board or pastry cloth to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out cookies with gingerbread man cutter. Bake at 350 8 to 10 minutes or until done. Decorate with icing if desired.

Decorative Sugar Icing

• 1

  Beat egg whites, salt, 3 cups of the sugar, and lemon juice in a small bowl with an electric beater until mixture stands in stiff peaks. Add more sugar only if necessary to make the paste stiff.

• 2

  Half fill a pastry tube fitted with a narrow tube and pipe desired amount onto cookie or cake, holding tip of tube 2 to 3 inches from the surface of the cookie. Or spread the icing with a knife to cover large areas. The icing hardens quickly, so if you want to top the icing with colored sugar or sprinkles, do so at once.