Gingerbread (For Cookies or a Gingerbread House)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon clove
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup margarine
1 egg, beaten
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat sugar, molasses, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves to boiling, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove from heat; stir in soda (it will foam up).

3. Stir in margarine till melted.

4. With a fork, stir in egg, then flour.

5. On a floured surface, knead dough till mixed. Divide dough in half, wrap half with plastic wrap; set aside.

6. Roll half the dough, with a rolling pin, slightly thinner than 1/4 inch.

7. Cut with cutters.

8. Bake at 325F on a cookie sheet for 12 minutes; cool on a wire rack.

9. Makes about 3 dozen 3" gingerbread people.

10. NOTE: We make houses by cutting out our house design (the 2 sides of the roof, two sides, a front and a back of the house) on graph paper, and then placing the graph paper shapes on the dough and cutting the dough shapes out with a knife.