Gingerbread cookies

My earliest memory of reading a book (or even looking at pictures of a book) is that of a gingerbread man cookie that comes to life and runs away to escape his mean pursuers. I have the image of that particular illustration of a gingerbread man imprinted - he had cute buttons down his front, two bead-like eyes, and an expressive mouth. I had always wanted to bake gingerbread men cookies, and I used Christmas as an excuse to bake a batch of them last year. 

Regarding the recipe, I searched and scoured the internet inside-out and went over every possible highly rated recipe to understand what makes a classic gingerbread cookie (without all the extra frills). I noted down a few recipes, mixed and matched and adjusted a few measurements "intuitively" and came up with this version. I unfortunately don't remember the sources of the original recipes to credit them here, but thanks to them for helping me figure out a version. 

Ingredients: (makes 30 gingerbread men cookies, depending on the size of the cutter)

1. 1 stick butter (at room temperature)
2. 1/2 cup sugar (brown sugar would be better)
3. 1/2 cup molasses
4. 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
5. 1 teaspoon baking soda
6. 1 teaspoon salt
7. 1 teaspoon ground ginger (ginger powder)
8. 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (for extra zing!)
9. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
10. 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
11. 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
12. 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
13. 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
14. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
15. 1/4 cup buttermilk

Preparation:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl - the flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pepper, and cardamom. 
2. Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed (if using an electric mixer) until fluffy. 
3. Add molasses and vanilla extract, and stir (do not beat). Next, add the buttermilk and grated ginger, and stir until combined.
4. Add the flour mixture in parts, and gently stir till the dough comes together. Do not over mix. This dough will be extremely sticky, so divide the dough into 2-3 parts and gently wrap it up tightly in saran wrap/plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 
5. When the dough is chilled, roll it out to 1/4-1/8 inch thickness on a generously floured board. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and bake for 9-12 minutes on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 375 F. 10-11 minutes was the ideal interval for me. 
6. Allow the cookies to cool completely before icing. I used store-bought icing tubes to make little eyes, mouth, buttons etc. 

I had other cookie cutters to make Christmas trees and stockings along with the adorable gingerbread men. I love these cookies for their crunchiness and spicy flavors.