No cookie says Christmas more than gingerbread. Here is our favorite recipe that tastes great and makes a wonderful background for icing.

Yield: 2 dozen 4″ cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter (room temperature, softened)
• ½ cup dark-brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 large egg

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.

2. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter.

3. Add sugar and beat until fluffy.

4. Mix in eggs, maple syrup & molasses.

5. Gradually add the flour mixture; combine on low speed. (You may need to work it with your hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.)

6. Divide dough in thirds; Roll each third between 2 pieces of parchment paper. You will have 3 separate pieces of rolled out dough, each one sandwiched between 2 pieces of parchment paper.

7. Put rolled dough, including the parchment paper, on a cookie sheet and chill for at about an 45 minutes. overnight.

8. Heat oven to 350°

9. Working one sheet of dough at a time, remove top parchment sheet and cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Leave shapes on parchment paper and remove scraps to re-roll.

10. Bake until crisp but not darkened, 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Let sit a few minutes and then use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.