You know what happened the last time I ate a red hot?

So yesterday it was time for our annual "Gingerbread Cookies with the Hicks" No, I am not being rude, they are not "hicks" they are our dear friends "The Hicks Family" And, surprise, surprise we had yet ANOTHER 1/2 day so we had to figure out something to entertain the kids. Julee always makes all of the Gingerbread dough for us with THE BEST Gingerbread cookie recipe ever. YUMMY!!! And I hunt down the decorations and provide the house. For some reason red hots are not so easy to find this time of year. (But if you are looking for them I finally hit pay dirt at Walgreens) Here are all of the crazy little munchkins eating their beloved gingerbread men, and apparently on some kind of a sugar high (Hey, it was their lunch, what can I say?) So after the first year we got pretty smart and decided that the mom's would cut out all of the cookies because the kids just really wanted to decorate them. It makes much less mess AND there is less opportunity for grubby kid hands to touch our cookies. Because let's face it, we eat more of them than the kids. Red Hots & M&M's were the candies of choice this year. Mom's love the red hots, but they get a little spicy for the kids.

As you can see each cookie gets THOROUGHLY decorated. (except maybe that peg leg teddy bear)

This was Dylan's pride & joy with the orange striped shirt.

This was Ashley's favorite Ginger Teddy.


And Connor's Favorite Christmas light (which Dylan said he copied him on) so they had twin cookies.

And, on the advice of my fabulous dentist, I tried my best to chew carefully. Earlier this year I popped a red hot in my mouth and it broke one of my teeth and I had to get a crown. Man, that was one expensive red hot. But, so far so good. I have nearly finished off all of the cookies, washed down by my symphony bars and Peppermint Chocolate Chip milk shakes from Chik-Fil-A. Ha, Ha, and I thought my scale was broken.

OK, by popular demand, here is the recipe: But the rule is, if you make some you must bring some to me.

Spicy Gingerbread Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons finely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 eggs
2/3 cup molasses
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Red Hots or Mini M&Ms

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, ginger, pepper, baking soda, salt cinnamon, and nutmeg; beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and molasses until combined. Add in flour.
Divide dough in half. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours or until easy to handle. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. On a lightly floured surface roll half of the dough at a time to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out and place on cookie sheet. Decorate as desired with M&Ms or Red Hots. Place about 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until tops appear dry. Don't overcook. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute before tranferring to a wire rack.

Enjoy!