Frugal Holiday Cookies : Gingerbread Men

I have a couple of super-frugal holiday cookie recipes that I like to bake each year. This one is a favorite in our house -- frugal as it only uses 1/4 cup of butter and no eggs. The "no eggs" part is rather significant for my larder these days, as I'm metering out the use of my final dozen eggs.

I mentioned baking our gingerbread men on facebook on Tuesday, and was asked for the recipe. I thought it would be easier to post the recipe here, where I have more space (and I can link to the recipe for facebook readers).

                          

Gingerbread Men

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup water
up to 3  1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (I rarely need this much flour, but add it 1 cup at a time, until dough is the right consistency for rolling out)

Cream butter and sugar.

Blend in molasses until uniform consistency. Stir in cloves, cinnamon, ginger, salt and baking soda.

Add flour 1 cup at a time, alternating with some of the water, until all water is used and dough is of good rolling texture (won't stick when rolled out on a floured surface). Chill dough for about 30 minutes.

Lightly butter baking sheets. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Break dough into 2 portions. Roll out 1 portion on a floured surface, to about 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into men/ladies. Place on buttered baking sheets.

Bake in preheated oven for 8-9 minutes, depending on thickness of dough, and how crisp you like your cookies.

Repeat with other portion of dough. (You'll need to very lightly butter baking sheets between uses.)

Press all scraps together and continue rolling out/cutting until dough is used up.

Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on baking sheet, then remove to rack for remaining cooling. Frost after cookies have cooled.

One of the things about living a frugal life . . .

is that you need to know when to go easy on yourself, and not be quite so frugal.

This past weekend is one such example for my family's life. It was an incredibly busy weekend. Saturday AM my 3 kids and I had to be up at our church, preparing in one way or another, for our church's annual Christmas cantata. We didn't return back home until mid-afternoon, leaving little energy or time for me to do more than lie down for a couple of hours, then get back up to make a dinner for the family. The time at the church really exhausted me, and a nap seemed to take priority over doing laundry.

Early Sunday AM, my 3 kids had to be back at our church for rehearsals, sound-board work, and performing at both regular worship services. We raced home as soon as we could, so my daughters could study for their final exams, I could squeeze in some cooking time, and get everybody back out the door at 2 in the afternoon, to ready for the two evening performances of the cantata. It was a tight, tight squeeze, especially for my daughters.

The cantata itself, took up the entire afternoon and evening, leaving no time for me to do any laundry. The laundry sat in a huge pile on the floor. Yet my family was needing clean things for the coming week. Saturday is my usual laundry day. And when I can't fit it in on Saturday, then I push it to Sunday. This weekend, there was no time to do laundry the frugal way (hanging it all to dry).  So, I decided for this week that clean laundry was more important than saving a few quarters on the dryer.

Life's demands come in spurts. One weekend there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. The next, I'm leisurely hanging and folding laundry. For me, with frugality, I need to know when it's "okay" to take a short-cut, and when I should use my extra time to do something that will save us money. Balance is key, in all things in life.