Gay, I bought Nick Malgieri's book for that recipe, and when I made it I was disappointed!
I really was expecting much more from him. I recall it being bland and somewhat dull tasting.
Here is the recipe I use each year. The key to soft cookies is to not overbake them, and remove the parchment to a cooling rack as soon as the time is up.
Michael’s BEST GINGERBREAD COOKIES
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
2 egg yolks
4 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 generous tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolks.
2. Sift the flour and then gently spoon into measuring cup to measure 4 cups. To the flour, add the salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Sift these together and then blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least one hour (see note below).
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.
Notes:
The dough is best handled when it is very cold. After the dough has completely cooled in the fridge, I put it in the freezer for 20 minutes to further chill before rolling out. Only take out of the fridge the amount of dough you plan to roll out at one time. I put the scraps in a bowl and set them back into the fridge to cool, instead of combining them with cold dough for the next rolling. When I’m done with the fresh dough, the scraps are cooled and I can roll them out again.
Goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: FRESH spices are the key to a good gingerbread! If your spices aren’t fresh, throw them out and get new. Your cookies will be so much better.
Enjoy!
