Gingerbread Men

There is no denying that Gingerbread Men are the ideal Christmas cookie. Their spicy dough, combined with the excitement of decorating them truly gets you in the holiday spirit. The following recipe is from one of my favorite vegan websites, theppk.com. PPK stands for The Post Punk Kitchen, and it provides a forum for vegans to share recipes, discuss policies, and post pictures of what they made. Not surprisingly, the site itself was founded by the author of Veganomicon, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, so you know that it is legit.

The Gingerbread Men I made were decorated with Red Hots and a simple icing consisting of confectioners sugar and water. Aren't they just the cutest little guys you have ever seen??

Gingerbread Men
From www.theppk.com

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup soymilk

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon each of ground nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

Directions:
Beat together oil and sugar for 3 minutes in a large bowl. Add molasses and soymilk. Stir together.
In another bowl, sift together all of the other ingredients.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches. Mix together with a firm spoon. The dough should be stiff. Mold into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease your cookie sheets.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a little less than 1/4 inch thick. Cut out your shapes with cookie cutters and gently place on cookie sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and let them cool for two minutes on a baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack. Wait until they are completely cool until icing.