Title: Gingerbread Teddy Bears
Categories: Cookie
Yield: 24 Servings
| 1 | c | Butter (or margarine) |
| 2/3 | c | Brown sugar |
| 2/3 | c | Corn syrup and/or molasses |
| 4 | c | Flour |
| 1 1/2 | ts | Cinnamon |
| 1 | ts | Ginger |
| 1/2 | ts | Ground cloves |
| 3/4 | ts | Baking soda |
| 1 | | Egg; lightly beaten |
| 1 1/2 | ts | Vanilla extract |
In a saucepan combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Cook and stir
over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Pour into large mixing bowl; cool
5 minutes. Sift together flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and baking soda.
Add egg and vanilla to butter mixture; mix well. Add flour mixture; beat
til well mixed. Divide dough in half, cover and chill 2 hours or
overnight. For each bear, shape dough into one 1-inch ball, one 3/4-inch
ball, six 1/2-inch balls and one 1/4-inch ball. On ungreased cookie sheet
flatten the 1-inch ball to 1/2" thickness for body. Attach the 3/4-inch
ball for head and flatten to 1/2" thickness. Attach the 1/2-inch balls
for
arms, legs and ears. Attach the 1/4-inch ball for nose. Bake at 350
degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, cool and decorate. I usually make these
smaller than described here; about 1/2 the size. Also, the ears start to
look like MOUSE ears if they're not a little smaller than the arms and
legs. Roll the nose ball to make it more oval in shape and place it on
the
LOWER half of the bear's face. These can be decorated with any icing-- I
use tinted Royal icing made from meringue powder to add eyes, nose and
bow
tie to each bear. For Easter, make these into bunnies. Use only light
corn
syrup, no molasses. Substitute white sugar for the brown sugar. Omit
spices and add a bit of almond extract if desired. Make them the same
way,
but make two long ears on the top and two cheek-balls instead of the
nose-ball. Decorate with pastel icings. Karen Mintzias TCVC49A