Tasty Bites: Soft Gingerbread Recipe

By Beth V

With Christmas approaching, I was recently inspired to try an old-fashioned gingerbread recipe. Gingerbread makes a great breakfast or dessert. It is not so sweet to be only limited to dessert-time and it goes wonderfully with a cup of coffee or tea. This recipe produces a super -soft and moist, perfectly spiced, moderately sweet pan of gingerbread. This gingerbread is perfectly comfortable to stand on its own, but it also enjoys the company of a sprinkling of confectioner’s sugar or a dollop of freshly whipped cream on occasion. (Click on the links for previous recipes where this is further explained.)

Start by creaming together softened butter and brown sugar until creamy, then add in three eggs, one at a time until well-combined. Now, blend in some molasses.

Set this aside and combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Now, combine a cup of boiling water with two teaspoons baking soda.  I am not sure why the recipe calls for this step instead of just adding the baking soda into the dry ingredients, but it does turn out very nicely. Next time I make it, maybe I will try adding it to the dry ingredients to see if it makes a difference. This time I decided not to mess with a good thing. And, your children may really enjoy this extra step because the chemical reaction of the baking soda with the boiling water causes the mixture to rapidly bubble and fizz. I admit it was pretty fun to watch and it was a great reminder that cooking is science.

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