Gingerbread That Actually Tastes Good!!!!

this is a really great recipe that my mom handed down to me, from a 1960s Jell-O pudding pamphlet. sadly, we lost the pamphlet.

it is easier to find Sheriff Pudding and Pie Filling mix (the kind you cook) in Ontario than the Jell-O version, but they both work great!

i never really liked gingerbread until my mom made these cookies. they are so tasty, like sugar cookies with a ginger bite to them. the thinner you roll the cookies, the crispier they will be.
we used to make gingerbread houses with this dough. one Christmas, when i was in college and had no money, i made a gingerbread house for each of my siblings. it was an awesome Christmas!

Gingerbread

• 2 pkgs of butterscotch (COOKED) pudding and pie filling mix - 6 oz or 6 serving size x 2
• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 4 1/2 tsp ginger
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

• cream together butter, pudding mix and sugar until light and fluffy; add eggs and blend well.
• mix dry ingredients together.
• add dry to wet and blend well
• chill until firm, about an hour, or the next day.
• roll onto lightly floured board, to 1/8" thick and cut with cutters [i use waxed paper to roll out dough onto. i find it really easy to get the dough off the counter this way, and i use much less flour when i roll it out. i place down two large pieces of waxed paper and then sprinkle it lightly with flour. roll out your dough a few times (flour the top, lightly) and then flour the top again and flip the dough over (flouring the surface if necessary) and then roll it out completely]
• gather up the leftover dough, roll it up into a ball, and roll it out again. repeat this process until you've used up all of the dough. the last couple cookies will be a bit tough and floury, but not too bad. you can eat those yourself to test them!
  
• bake on greased cookie sheet, or use parchment paper at 350 F for 10 - 12 min until golden brown and it looks like it is cooked
  
• 
• makes about 7 1/2 dozen

note: this recipe has been tripled from the original, as it called for a 4 oz package of butterscotch pudding mix which they don't sell any more.

here is a recipe for royal frosting, but i have no idea where i found it. it is great to use as tasty glue to hold the gingerbread houses together!

Royal Frosting

combine:

• 3 egg whites (at room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 16 oz package of icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

beat 7 to 10 min until VERY stiff
mix dry ingredients into wet

keep covered with a damp cloth at all times
use right away
makes 3 cups

cathynote: i don't recall if i beat the egg whites until fluffy first and then added the icing sugar, or if i threw it all in together and beat the crap out of it then. the resulting icing is VERY stiff and sticky, not fluffy at all, but sweet and crunchy when dried.