Cakespy: Gingerbread Mad Men

Course	Main Ingredient	Type of Dish	Dietary/Lifestyle
Appetizer	Beef	Breads	Cheap
Breakfast and Brunch	Poultry	Condiments and Sauces	Gluten-free
Mains	Lamb	Drinks	Grilling
Sides	Pork	Salads	Vegetarian
Desserts	Eggs	Sandwiches
	Cheese	Soups
	Seafood
	Pasta and Grains

-For-Recipes-Index

Print

Full Page no photos Full page with photos Shopping list (ingredients only) Include selected comments
cancel
Email

Entire text of recipe Shopping list (ingredients only) Link to recipe Recipient e-mail: This is me Your e-mail (if different from recipient):

cancel

Posted by cakespy, 14 comments

December 9, 2009 at 2:15 PM

Favorite this! (8)

rated:

Tags: Cakespy, cookies, gingerbread, holiday sweets, Mad Men, TV

This Recipe First Appeared In: All the Holiday Recipes You Need

The perfect holiday cookie between Mad Men seasons.

Gingerbread Don. [Original artwork and photographs: Jessie Oleson]

They say you have to learn the rules before you break them. But is it ever possible to break them just a little bit while you learn them? Case in point: gingerbread men.

I haven't made enough of them to feel comfortable messing with the classic recipe but wanted to have a little fun with this batch nonetheless. The solution? Using a classic recipe—in this case, from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book—but decorating them as Gingerbread Mad Men, inspired by the characters in the AMC series.

Gingerbread Joan.

Shaped to resemble man-about-town Don Draper, his repressed housewife Betty, and voluptuous secretary Joan, these spicy cookies have a depth of flavor as rich as the depth of these television characters. While this take on gingerbread did the trick, I'm sure any recipe will work—it's the martini glass and briefcase accessories that matter.

Gingerbread Betty.

Gingerbread Mad Men

About the author: Jessie Oleson is a Seattle-based writer, illustrator, and cake anthropologist who runs Cakespy, an award-winning dessert website.

Ingredients

serves 24 to 36 cookies, depending on size

1/3 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cups dark molasses
2/3 cup cold water
5 1/2 cups flour (the original recipe called for 7 cups, but around 5 1/2 my mixer was clearly protesting so I left it at that--and they seemed fine)
1 teaspoon baking soda (original recipe calls for 2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Procedures

1

Mix butter, sugar, and molasses thoroughly. Stir in water and mix until incorporated (it will be wet and strangely lumpy, but this goes away when you add the flour).
2

Sift together the flour and other remaining dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir into the wet mix a little at a time until fully incorporated. The mixture will be extremely thick. Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap; let chill for at least two hours.
3

Heat the oven to 350°F. Roll dough 1/4 inch thick on a (very lightly) floured board. Using a gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut the cookies.
4

Make slight variations by hand to personalize them for Mad Men characters.
5

For the men: Gently shape the legs to be longer and flatter at the end, and stretch the arms a little bit. For the women: Be sure to flatten the fat middle part of the gingerbread men—after all, they are all shapely ladies. For Gingerbread Joan in particular, you might want to add a little beehive hairdo.
6
7

Bake the large cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until no imprint remains when touched lightly; bake the small accessory cookies for about 6 to 7 minutes. Let them cool completely before icing them.