Skeleton Gingerbread Man

Halloween is coming in about three weeks. I can hardly wait since it's one of my favorite events of the year. I love the chilly weather, pumpkin flavored treats, and all the delicious candy. Of course dressing up in something spooky and running around the neighborhood was something I used to do, but now I prefer to let the neighborhood kiddies have all that fun for me.

One way I make up for not trick-or-treating is to bake some spooky treats. Today I found a recipe on allrecipes.com called "Eileen's Spicy Gingerbread Men" and I decided to turn them into skeleton gingerbread men. Ginger cookies and skeletons are perfect for the month of October afterall.

Skeleton Gingerbread Men:

yield: 30 cookies



Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ginger



Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Stir in the brown sugar, maple syrup, and egg yolk. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the wet mixture until smooth. Cover and chill for at least one hour.

2. Preheat the oven to 340 degrees F (175 degrees). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on parchment paper.

3. Bake for 8-10 minutes in preheated oven. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Decorate with royal icing.



Royal Icing:



Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 egg white, beaten



Directions:

1. In a bowl, sift together confectioner's sugar and cream of tartar. Using electric mixer, beat in the egg white for about 5 minutes or until mixture is thick enough to hold its shape.

2. Quickly dollop the icing into piping bag. If you don't have a piping bag, you can put it in a zip-loc bag and cut a tiny opening off the edge.