Gingerbread Easter Eggs with Royal Icing
Author: 
Recipe type: Cookies
Prep: 
Cook: 
Total time: 
Serves: 36
 
This gingerbread is perfect any time of year, in any shape or form!
Ingredients
  • GINGERBREAD COOKIES:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour (or another cup of all-purpose)
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1½ tsp cinnamon
  • 1½ tsp ginger
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1½ cups packed brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ⅓ cup mild/cooking molasses
  • ROYAL ICING:
  • 4 egg whites (use Grade A, clean, uncracked eggs, they're stayin' raw)
  • 4½ cups confectioner's sugar (aka icing sugar)
  • 1 tsp extract of your choice (vanilla, almond, lemon, etc.)
Instructions
  1. FOR COOKIES:
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  3. In a small bowl, stir together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
  4. In a medium bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, eggs, and molasses until smooth and creamy.
  5. Gradually beat flour mixture into butter mixture until well blended.
  6. Chill dough for at least an hour for easier rolling.
  7. On lightly floured surface, roll dough out to scant ¼" thickness. (The dough will be a bit sticky, so lightly flour your rolling pin or put a large piece of wax paper on the dough and roll on top of that to prevent sticking.) Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Re-roll scraps as needed.
  8. With spatula, lift cookies and transfer to an ungreased baking sheet, 2-3" apart.
  9. Bake for 9-10 minutes.
  10. Let sit on cookie sheet for a minute before removing to racks to cool completely.
  11. I made 3 dozen medium-large cookies, but the number you get will depend on the size of your cookie cutters.
  12. FOR ICING:
  13. When cookies are fully cooled, prepare icing.
  14. Beat egg whites in large, clean bowl with mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add confectioner's sugar and extract at medium speed, then whip on high speed until smooth and thickened. Use as-is or divide into small bowls and colour as desired.
  15. Apply with a piping bag fitted with a very small icing tip or snip a small corner off a Ziploc bag and fill bag with icing.
Notes
Royal icing will harden as it sets to a strong, damage-resistant finish. Store iced cookies in the fridge due to the egg whites in the recipe.
Recipe by Hidden Ponies at https://hiddenponies.com/2012/04/free-range-brown-easter-eggs-with-royal-icing/