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The Gingerbread man

Activity for the Gingerbread Man

Listen to Dr. Lockett's version of The Gingerbread Man on his album Tales for the Young at Heart while you make gingerbread with your child.

Recipe for Making Gingerbread Men - Makes about 8 fat men (about 5 inches long or 16 thinner ones.

Materials:

• 1/4/cup butter.
• 1/2 cup white or brown sugar.
• 1/2 cup dark molasses.
• 3 1/2 cups white flour.
• 1 teaspoon baking soda.
• 1/4 teaspoon of cloves.
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
• 1 teaspoon of ginger.
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Instructions:

1. Blend the butter and sugar until creamy.
2. Beat in the dark molasses.
3. Sift the flour into a separate container.
4. Add the baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and salt to the flour, and re-sift it together.
5. Add the sifted ingredients to the butter,sugar/molasses mixture along with about 5 tablespoons of water (maybe more). You may have to do this 1/3 of the mixture at a time - then combine all three parts to finish the mixing.
6. The last of the flour will have to be worked in with your hands. Grease the bottom of a cookie sheet, and roll the dough out onto it. Thickness will be determined by the size of cookie cutter you have.
7. Cut out your Gingerbread Men with a floured cookie cutter. Another option is to roll out the dough and draw your own shapes with a knife.
8. Cut around the outlines and remove the scraps of dough between the figures.
9. Combine the scraps and re-roll them to make more Gingerbread Men.
10. Decorate the figures before baking them with small raisins, currents, bits of candied cherries, red hots (cinnamon bits), decorettes, citron, etc. Use the decorating items to make facial features, buttons, etc. You can also use frosting to add more decorations after baking the Gingerbread Men.
11. Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes (or according to the thickness).  Test them with a toothpick.
12. Remove from the pans immediately as they come out of the over and cook them on the counter or tray.

Children love to use toothpicks to add decorators' icing to add details to the Gingerbread Men before eating them.