We’ve made gingerbread men ornaments and played with pretend gingerbread cookies, so it felt like time to make the real thing, before this Christmas season comes to a close. As with the sugar cookies we made, kids can play a large role in mixing ingredients, rolling the dough (or just playing with a portion!), and using kid-friendly cookie cutters to cut out shapes for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance butter
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 3 cups flour

1. Cream together the butter and molasses in a large bowl; set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, ginger, cinnamon, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until a dough forms. Finish kneading the dough with wet hands.
3. Divide the dough into portions and roll out to 1/4-inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Use gingerbread men cookie cutters, and place the shapes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
4. Let cool for a minute on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

We sprinkled half of our gingerbread people with a dusting of sugar before baking, to give them a sparkly appearance.

For the others, we added a bit of frosting and vegan chocolate chips as buttons, for a cute finishing touch!