This gingerbread snowflake recipe starts with my favorite gingersnap cookie recipe to make six-pointed star cookies that can be iced to look like snowflakes.

Gingerbread Snowflakes: Making Christmas cookies with my aunts and mother is one of my earliest and most cherished memories. I think back to that floury kitchen table every year around this time, where the dough was rolled and punched out using the standard assortment of holiday cookie cutters. I preferred the Santa shape because it produced the largest cookies, but I also liked the stars. I’ve said it a hundred times, if only once; Pointy food is very popular.

As a result, as I began this production, I couldn’t help but wish I had inherited those worn-out cutters because I had nothing to use to create the desired shape for the snowflakes. I realize I might have handily requested one, yet thinking about that multitude of other shaper less kitchens out there, I chose to sort out a method for getting a similar shape without one, and this is the very thing I thought of.

Although it takes some time to position the dough pieces, this method is not any more time-consuming than the traditional one. Additionally, because each snowflake is intended to be unique, its slight variations are effective. Also, if you don’t like the best gingerbread cookies ever, you can use this method with any cookie dough that is stiff enough to shape. I hope you give these snowflake cookies a shot soon, either way. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Cookies

• Two cups all-purpose flour
• two tablespoons all-purpose flour
• one tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• two teaspoons ground ginger
• two teaspoons ground cinnamon
• two teaspoons baking soda
• two teaspoons fine salt
• four teaspoons ground cloves
• eight teaspoons ground black pepper (optional)
• eight teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
• one large egg.

Icing:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 4 teaspoons water
• as much as necessary

Directions

• In a large bowl, thoroughly combine 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, cocoa powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, cloves, black pepper, and cayenne.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar in a separate bowl until pale yellow and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla. Combine with a whisk until well combined. Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture just until the flour is gone. Put the dough on top of a piece of plastic wrap that has been spread out on the counter. While shaping the dough into a rectangle that is approximately one inch high and four to five inches wide, cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until mixture is cold and firm, around 60 minutes.
• Set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Use a Silpat mat to line a baking sheet.
• Slice the block into 14 or 15 pieces that are 3/8 inch thick after the dough has chilled. Each cut is then sliced down the middle, and every half into 3 strips the long way.
• The 6-pointed star can be made by cutting three strips of the dough into the shape shown, then spreading them out on the baking sheet that has been prepared.
• If you like your cookies chewy, bake them for 12 minutes in a preheated oven, or 15 minutes for crispy cookies. After carefully removing the cookies from the oven, wait five minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack. After about 30 minutes, allow to cool completely.
• Make a ribbon by combining the powdered sugar and water. Place the icing in a bag with a small round tip for piping. Pipe designs of snowflakes onto the cooled cookies.