The task for day 11 is: Making your gingerbread house!

Of course, we can't forget about the delicious gingerbread cookies! Today I bring you a recipe for making your gingerbread cookies along with the steps on how to make them!

Starting with the dough for the gingerbread cookies you need:
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses (do not use blackstrap molasses, it's too bitter)

And of course, we can't forget the icing, this is what you need for the icing!
- 1 egg white, raw or pasteurized (or 1 tablespoon egg white powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted.

And anything else you'd like to decorate your gingerbread cookies with!

Now we need to gather the equipment before we can fully get started! What do we need? - Cookie cutter
- Stand mixer

And now it's time to start with it!
Combine the dry ingredients:
In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Make the dough:
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in the egg and molasses.

Gradually add the flour mixture; combine on low speed. (You may need to work it with your hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.)

Chill the dough:
Divide dough into thirds; wrap each third in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. Before rolling out, let sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes. If after refrigerating the dough feels too soft to roll out, work in a little more flour.
Preheat oven to 350°F or 160 degrees Celcius.

Roll out the dough:
Place a dough third on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper or wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the rolled-out dough to the refrigerator again to chill for 5 to 10 minutes. This will make it easier to cut out the cookies.

Cut out the cookies:
Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes, or place a stencil over the dough and use a knife to cut into desired shapes.

Transfer to the baking sheet:
Transfer to ungreased baking sheets. Press raisins, chocolate chips, or candy pieces in the center of each cookie if desired for "buttons."

Bake:
Bake at 350°F until crisp but not darkened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Let sit a few minutes and then use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.

Make the icing:
Beat the egg whites and lemon juice together, adding the sifted powder sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks.

If using powdered egg whites: Combine 1 tablespoon egg white powder with 2 tablespoons water. Proceed as you would otherwise.

If the icing is too runny, add more powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency.

Once you make the icing, use it quickly before it hardens.

Decorate the cookies:
Fill a piping bag with the icing to pipe out into different shapes on the cookies. (Or use a plastic sandwich bag, with the tip of one corner of the bag cut off.) Keep the icing covered while you work with it or it will dry out.

Once the cookies are decorated, the surface of the royal icing will dry quickly, within 15 minutes. But the icing may still be soft inside. Let the decorated cookies sit at room temp for 12 hours for the icing to dry completely.

Source: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/gingerbread_man_cookies/