By Chef Mark Steele

The oldest and most loved recipe that exists in my family’s recipe vault is gingerbread. I’ve been eating (and baking) these cookies since I can remember, and it is the standard by which I judge all other gingerbread. I have since learned that gingerbread comes in all shapes, sizes, textures, firmness, etc, but in my mind, nothing can touch my grandmother’s recipe.

In my household, gingerbread is a year round favorite. We don’t wait for the holidays to break out the cloves, ginger and molasses. In fact, my five year old son has already mastered the art of cutting out gingerbread men, and as soon as they’re baked, eating all of their heads off!  But Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a few tins of gingerbread on hand to share with friends and neighbors.

Here, I share with you a recipe that is near and dear. I hope that for some of you, it becomes a family tradition as well.

Gingerbread

½ cup butter

1 cup molasses

1 tsp. cloves

2 tsp. allspice

2 tsp. ginger

1 cup boiling water

4 tsp. baking soda

1 cup sugar

6 ½ cups flour

1. Mix together butter, molasses, sugar and boiling water.
2. In a separate bowl sift flour and add spices and baking soda.
3. Mix the all ingredients together to form gingerbread dough.
4. Chill in fridge for 20 minutes, then flatten, cut out shapes, and bake for 10-14 minutes at 315°F.

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Mark Steele / Executive Chef
Food & Beverage Operations / Algonquin College
Tel 613-727-4723 ext 7260 / Fax 613-727-7735