Gingerbread

It's not Christmastime unless you make some holiday cookies, preferably gingerbread in fun seasonal shapes. I have a set of cookie cutters I love, all the classics: reindeer, snowman, star, angel, snowflake, candy cane, and, of course, a gingerbread man. I found a recipe that I like several years ago. The dough is very easy to work with, it doesn't stick to the cutting board or rolling pin (my biggest frustration with difficult doughs). It's a Paula Dean recipe that I got from her holiday cookbook years back. I feel a little guilty using it given what a racist she turned out to be, but when you find a good thing you have to stick with it.
Here's how this year's batch came out of the oven:

I decided the next day that they really needed some icing details...but I just couldn't bring myself to get into multiple batches of icing in different colors. One classic color would do, white! The recipe I use calls for corn syrup and vanilla so the icing comes out a nice off-white and it's a nice counterpoint flavor to the ginger in the cookie. Here's how they turned out. Who's going to eat all these cookies now? I only allow myself ONE on my new diet. Oh, well. It's a good thing they last a long time in the fridge.