Christmas gingerbread doll

In a large bowl, mix well the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. This is our first step to get those great tasting cookies.

In another bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until creamy. Then incorporate the molasses, egg and vanilla. Based on my experience, I suggest doing this gradually to maintain the homogeneity of the mixture.

Add the flour mixture in batches, stirring each time until incorporated. If you do it all at once, it can generate lumps in our dough.

Divide the dough in two, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This is an essential step to make the dough more manageable when cutting the cookies.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line the baking trays with baking paper.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough until it is about 5 mm thick. Then, use die cutters to cut the dough.

Place the cookies on the baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. I would recommend keeping an eye on the first few cookies to calculate the exact baking time in your oven.

Let cool completely before decorating with gumdrops, hard candies and royal icing. This is where you can get creative and make each doll unique.