These adorable gingerbread guys are great for a cookie exchange or kid-friendly holiday party.

Ingredients
Cookies

• 1/2 cup fancy molasses
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Toppings

• White and black royal icing
• 36 Smarties or M&M’s

Directions
1 Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.

2 In a double boiler over medium heat, or in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, combine and stir the molasses, sugars, cinnamon and ginger.

3 When the sugars have melted, add in the baking soda and stir. Once the mixture bubbles up, remove the pot from the heat and set aside.

4 Meanwhile, place the butter in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment and slowly pour the warm molasses mixture over the butter.

5 With the machine running on medium speed, mix until the butter has completely melted and the mixture has cooled slightly. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

6 With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the flour until it’s fully combined. Then lift the dough from the bowl and place it on a well-floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to about 1/4" thick.

7 Use a 5" gingerbread man cookie cutter to cut your cookies. Carefully arrange them, about 1" apart, onto two parchment paper-lined baking sheets. You will need to combine the scraps and re-roll the dough several times to use it all up.

8 Bake in the oven until the centre of the cookies are still slightly soft to the touch, about 10 minutes. If you prefer your gingerbread crunchy, bake them for a few minutes longer. Then transfer the cookies onto wire racks and allow them to cool completely before decorating.

9 Meanwhile, spoon the royal icing into piping bags fitted with plain tips, and let the fun begin.

Serves: 18

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Excerpted from Butter Baked Goods by Rosie Daykin. Recipes Copyright © 2013 Rosie Daykin, Photography copyright © 2013 Janis Nicolay. Excerpted by permission of Appetite by Random House, a division of Random House Canada, Inc. All rights reserved.