Chocolate Gingerbread Stamped Cookies ~ these pretty old world holiday cookies are made with cookie stamps, and the snowflake design is highlighted with a sweet glaze. Make them the star of your holiday cookie collection!
Cream the butter and sugar together until well blended, then beat in the molasses and egg yolk, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed to get everything fully incorporated.
Whisk the dry ingredients together, then, with the mixer on low, slowly add to the wet ingredients until the dough comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly flour surface and knead a couple of times to bring it all together. Form into a flat disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375F Put your cookie stamps in the freezer to chill. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Roll out the dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Press a cold cookie stamp into the dough, pressing all around the stamp to get a good impression. Then cut out with a round cookie cutter of a similar size. Place on the cookie sheet. Note: if the cookie stamp sticks, lightly flour it (and knock off the excess) before stamping. The impression should be nice and sharp for best results.
Transfer the cookies to a lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. You don't want to over bake these cookies, so do a test cookie or two to figure out the best timing for your oven. The cookies will be soft when you remove them from the oven, but will firm up as they cool. Note: do a test cookie first, if your samped design fades during baking, try chilling the cookies for 15 minutes before baking.
While the cookies are baking whisk the glaze ingredients together until they become a smooth thin glaze. Add more water if the glaze is too thick, a little at a time. It should have the consistency of maple syrup or a thin honey.
Put the cookies on a cooling rack and brush them with the glaze while still slightly warm. The glaze will dry in about 30 minutes.
Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to a week. Makes 14-18 cookies.