| 1 | Preparation time: 1 ?hours chilling time: 12 hours or more cooking time: 7 minutes |
| 2 | Put sugar, syrup, water, ginger, cinnamon and cloves into a large saucepan. |
| 3 | Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils and sugar dissolves. |
| 4 | Remove from heat. |
| 5 | Add butter. |
| 6 | Stir until butter is melted and mixture is no longer very hot. |
| 7 | Mix flour and baking soda. |
| 8 | Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir to blend thoroughly. |
| 9 | Dough will have a soft texture. |
| 10 | Place dough in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight or at least 12 hours or as long as 1 week. |
| 11 | Heat oven to 375 degrees. |
| 12 | Remove about one-sixth of the dough and knead it until it is slightly softened. |
| 13 | Roll dough directly onto ungreased cookie sheets until it is about ?inch thick. |
| 14 | Use a cookie cutter to stamp shapes in dough, allowing a 1-inch margin between each cookie. |
| 15 | Remove excess dough by lifting it and peeling it away. |
| 16 | Scraps of dough can be kneaded together and re-rolled. |
| 17 | Bake until golden brown, about 7 minutes. |
| 18 | Allow cookies to cool slightly and become crisp before removing them from the cookie sheet. |
| 19 | Cool thoroughly on wire racks. |
| 20 | If desired, you may "paint" the cooled cookies using a clean, small paintbrush and food coloring that has been watered down slightly. |
| 21 | Store cookies in airtight containers. |
| 22 | Note: after the 12-hour resting period, this cookie dough can be hand-molded like clay--rolled, pinched, poked and pressed--and it will keep its shape, expanding slightly while baking. |
| 23 | Thin cookies will become brown and bake quickly, large and thick shapes will require longer baking. |
| 24 | Can be cut into any shape desired but make the cookies uniformly thick. |
| 25 | The microwave oven can be used to cook the sugar mixture in step 1. |
| 26 | judith taylor, highland park from the chicago tribune sixth annual food guide holiday cookie contest december 2, 1993 |
