Gingerbread People

GINGERBREAD PEOPLE COOKIES:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1 egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp allspice

Cream together butter, sugar and corn syrup until smooth. Beat in egg. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and allspice; stir into creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least thirty minutes. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a floured surface, roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Place cookies on greased cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches from each other. Bake for 8 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet five minutes before removing. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Ice with below recipe and decorate. Makes about 36 cookies.

ICING:
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 cups powdered sugar

Whip egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until icing is stiff. Add food coloring if desired. Pipe onto cookies and use as glue to affix candy decorations.

Tip: You can spoon the icing into a big Ziploc baggie (or several small ones if you seperate icing and do different colors - or if you have tiny helpers who need smaller bags) and cut the tip of the corner of the bag, twisting the icing down and out of the hole if you don't have a icing tool. The larger your hole, the more fat the line will be.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Texas Co-Op Power Magazine - December 2004 Issue