Inspired by vintage plaid thermoses, I've baked and decorated these jolly Thermos Gingerbread Cookies. Their unique decorative pattern and delicious gingerbread flavor will make them a star on your holiday cookie platter.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Christmas cookies, cookies, gingerbread, gingerbread cookies, royal icing
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla. Mix to combine.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix to combine. Cover and refrigerate the dough overnight or for at least 4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Divide the chilled dough in two. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough so it is about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick. Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place the shapes about 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet. Place the baking sheet of cookies into the freezer for about five minutes.
Remove the cookies from the freezer and bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies barely start to brown. Cool for 30-60 seconds on the cookie sheet. Then, transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool completely.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
While the cookies cool, prepare the royal icing. Add the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder to the bowl of a stand mixer. (You can also use a hand mixer.) Whisk to combine.
With the mixer on low, add one tablespoon of warm water at a time. Once all six tablespoons have been added, pour in the corn syrup.
Continue to mix at low to medium speed adding more warm water, one tablespoon at a time, to achieve the desired consistency. The ideal consistency is something that is a bit thicker than corn syrup.*
Decide how many colors you are going to use and divide the icing into that many bowls. Add food coloring to each of the bowls to achieve the desired colors.
Transfer the icing to a piping bag or piping bottle.** (I've linked the bottles I used in the notes section below.)
Now you're ready to pipe. I piped all the thermos tops first, then did the bases. For the stripes, I added some when the first layers were still wet. Then, I added on more stripes once that layer was set. You can do whatever you like best. I recommend practicing on a couple of cookies first.
To finish off the thermos design, I piped an edge around the lid and base in the same color respectively.
Allow the icing to completely harden. Then, pack and store these cookies in an airtight container.
Notes
*Making "proper" royal icing takes time and practice. You need to get a feel for it to know the consistency you need. It took me 30 minutes to figure it out and I still needed to adjust things. Have patience and take your time.** You can find the icing bottles I used HERE.