Best Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

This is a great gingerbread recipe I just found.

2 large eggs, beaten
1 Cup brown sugar
1 Cup butter
Cream together.  Then add:
1/2 Cup molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp ground ginger
4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg

Slowly add 5 1/2 C flour 1 C at a time.  WARNING!!!  This recipe is very spice heavy, which isn't every one's cup of tea.  You may want to cut back and slowly add more. Also, this dough gets very stiff very quickly, and it works best if you hand mix after the 2nd cup.  It can do some serious damage to your dough hook if you aren't careful! 
Roll dough out onto flat surface and cut.  Place onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

For my cookies I used 2 C whole wheat and 3 1/2 C white flour.  My family had no clue and they were very moist and chewy.

Candy Cane Cookies

My FAVORITE Christmas cookie! These are fun for the kids to make too!

1/2 C Butter, softened
1/2 C shortening
1 C powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Red food coloring

Mix dough in order, EXCEPT for food coloring. Divide dough in half, color one half with the food coloring. Make a 1 inch ball from each color dough. Form into a toosie roll (short and fat). Then lay them side by side together, and roll to form the swirl, until they are about 4-5 inches long. Carefully transfer to cookie sheet, forming the crook in the cane. Bake for 9 minutes at 375. Let cool on sheet 2-5 minutes before moving. (they will break if you move them too soon.)

Tips: The white tends to dry out faster than the red, so if you double the batch keep a damp paper towel over the white to keep it moist. You can also decrease the almond to 1/2 tsp in the red side (when making 2 batches, 1 of each color) to compensate for the extra liquid you will be getting from the food coloring.