Gingerbread

One of my favorite things about Christmas is gingerbread.  Gingerbread houses!  Gingerbread men!  And of course gingerbread.  The soft kind you eat with whipped cream on top.  Yummy!

Earlier this week, I had some spare time, so I decided to whip up a rather easy recipe so some holiday cheer.  I got the recipe from Pinterest, but I have something else for you guys this week on my Pinterest Challenge.

Gingerbread:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving. Cut into squares and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

The recipe comes from this pin, here.  Definitely try it out!

While my gingerbread was baking, I made a gingerbread house.  I must admit, that it was from a kit.  I didn't follow the directions too well, but it turned out alright.  I haven't made a gingerbread house in years.  Last time I did (2004, maybe?), it was homemade and kind of a pain in the butt, to be honest.  But it was fun.  And it even still smelled like gingerbread!