One of my grandmother’s made gingerbread when she had the hankering for it. She didn’t have a recipe; she just threw things together, mixed it up, and baked it in her wood burning stove. My aunts rave about it, but none of us got my grandmother’s gingerbread recipe. I make the basic American version of gingerbread—no added fillings like applesauce or pumpkin—just ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and molasses. I usually bake it in a gingerbread man baking pan, but this year I tried Wilton’s Holiday Pan. Small gingerbread people, candy canes, and a large snow flake are outlined in the baked gingerbread. I made a mess decorating them.

Gingerbread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 egg
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup hot water
- decorator icing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray with baking spray, or grease and flour a 9-inch baking pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, with mixer set at medium speed, cream together sugar and butter. Reduce speed to low and mix in egg, then molasses.
- Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, a little at a time, alternately with hot water, until ingredients are blended.
- Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in center of gingerbread comes out clean. Cool completely before decorating holiday figures.
Notes
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