Gingerbread Cookie Ornaments

In the last couple of years Daniel and I have started the tradition of having two Christmas trees {mostly due to having a living room and a bonus room}. Anyways, our bonus room holds our small, fake tree that we bought from Big Lots when we were first married {9 years ago}. We decorate this tree with the ornaments that we have been collecting over the years.

The second tree is a {large} real tree in our living room. We decorate this tree with white twinkle lights and homemade ornaments – usually I bake gingerbread cookies and string popcorn. This year's tree is ginormous and seeing that I am a new mom, I decided {wisely} that I didn't have time to string popcorn. Instead I made a white and red paper ring garland out of construction paper {pictures to come in a later post}.

Yesterday, thanks to my Moby Wrap, I was able to spend an afternoon baking cookies without Jack fussing too much. 

I tried a new recipe this year and am really pleased with the outcome.

I will write another post later this week when the tree is finished being decorated, so keep posted.

Gingerbread Cookie Ornament Recipe

Recipe based on this recipe from eHow.

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp Crisco
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp ginger
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 7 cups flour 
• 2 cups water

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Beat Crisco and sugar together in a large bowl. 
• Stir in molasses.
• Mix baking soda, ground cloves, ginger, cinnamon and flour together in a large bowl. 
• Alternate adding the water and flour mixture to the shortening mixture.
• Stir until mixed thoroughly and refrigerate 2 hours.
• Divide dough into three equal sections and knead each section lightly
• Use a rolling pin to roll out dough to a 1/8-inch thickness.
• Use festive cookie cutters to cut out your ornaments.
• Use a drinking straw or chopstick to make a hole at the top of each ornament.
• Place cookie cutouts on cookie sheets and bake for about 20 minutes. 
• Place cookies on cooling racks to harden.
• Thread a 12-inch length of narrow ribbon through the hole at the top of each ornament. Knot the ends of the ribbon and hang your ornaments.

Makes about 6 dozen cookie ornaments.

*You can paint these cookies, but I prefer the simplicity of the cutouts. They smell wonderful.