Table Settings and Recipes: Christmas Gingerbread Men

It has become a family tradition that each year that I bake gingerbread men and women to use as place cards on the table Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day. These can be baked ahead and frozen without decoration and are quite tasty. I use Betty Crocker tubes of red and green frosting to pipe names and minimal decorations on each gingerbread person: collars and ties for the men and holly for the women.

This place setting included some Christmas candy and a Christmas CD for each guest. A framed menu - printed using The Print Shop on the computer - stands at each end of the table which is decorated with votive candles and a collection of ornaments from the Nostalgic Houses Series from Hallmark. Evergreens from the yard adorn the chandelier from which red apples hang at varying lengths.
If you notice a difference in the look of the dining room in this photo compared to the Christmas table setting photos, you are most observant! This photo was taken before we painted the dining room and renovated the kitchen.

Ingredients:
(printable recipe)
2/3 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco which now comes in bars)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup boiling water
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/2 cups flour
Directions:
Cream the vegetable shortening and sugar until smooth.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients while continuing to mix. Batter gets very thick so a stand mixer works best.

Knead mixture on a board until it forms a ball.

Roll dough out, dusting the surface with flour to prevent sticking. You can  roll between two pieces of extra wide plastic wrap, flipping it over during the process and dusting lightly with flour.  I invested in a silicone pastry mat from the Williams Sonoma Outlet Store and it works beautifully.

Cut with cookie cutters and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 7-10 minutes at 375'.

To hang on tree, make a hole in head of gingerbread man before baking. Re-roll leftover dough to cut more cookies.

Recipe can be doubled and cookies freeze well.

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