A cookie for Christmas – Patricks make giant gingerbread man

For a child, no cookie says Christmas like the gingerbread man cookie, and the bigger the better. How about a 19-inch cookie that is 17 inches wide?

Tony and Elizabeth Patrick baked the extra large cookie recently, using a specially designed cookie cutter made by Tony. The 50-year veteran sheet metal craftsman has completed numerous jobs in his career, but the gingerbread man definitely posed some challenges.

?It?ll be the only one I make,? laughed Tony. ?I did it especially for my daughter, Tricia.? He first had to figure out the dimensions and draw a pattern for the cutter, next came the cutting and shaping from sheets of copper. The different cuts are held together with copper rivets, with the constructing taking about an hour.

Due to the size of the cutter, he also had to make an extra large pan for the actual cooking. The gingerbread man cookie cutter will probably now be used for decoration.

?My dad?s been working with metal all my life, and over the years has created everything from gutters to duct for air conditioning units, but the family favorites are the watering cans, umbrella stands and especially the cookie and biscuit cutters. Fortunately for the family, and a number of friends and relatives, at age 81 my dad may have scaled back on the daily work load, but still shares his skills at metal work by creating these copper works of art,? daughter Patricia Zechman said.

She added, ?A Food Channel program recently featured a giant copper cookie cutter, and my first thought was, ?Daddy can do that!??

Well, sure enough with a little planning and some artist assistance from granddaughter Lauren, the giant cookie cutter was in the works. Once the cookie cutter, which measures eight feet of copper around, was completed, it was Grandmama?s turn to finish the job. Liz took over, and using a favorite cookie recipe, the end result was a giant cookie enjoyed by the Southern Standard staff.

Having shared their energies and talents with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, this senior couple is living proof that the best gifts of all are those from the heart.

The traditional folk tale, ?The Gingerbread Man,? has been a favorite for children for many years, and not just at Christmas time. Ever wondered what the record for a gingerbread man is?

The world’s largest gingerbread man resides in Minnesota. Gingerbread House Bakery is in The Guinness Book of World Records for creating the 466 pound dessert. It was made official just this month in Rochester, with plans to be displayed in the Mall of America, beside the world?s largest gingerbread house.

For anyone wanting to try making their own gingerbread men, a recipe follows:

Gingerbread Man Cookies Recipe

This dough cannot only be used to make gingerbread men, but also other shapes. Traditionally, gingerbread cookies are decorated with white icing and raisins for features, but feel free to let your imagination run wild with other decorations such as red hots, colored sugar sprinkles, gumdrops, etc.

3/4 cup unsulphured molasses

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter

3-2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Warm molasses in a saucepan or microwave, but do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted. Let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Add egg and mix well. Refrigerate at least one hour until dough becomes stiff enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.

Divide dough in half. Place each half between sheets of plastic wrap and roll out to a thickness of 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick. Refrigerate one half while you roll out the other half, so dough is kept cold.

Dip the gingerbread man cookie cutter in flour and cut shapes. Place on prepared cookie sheets. If using the raisins to decorate, press into place now. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. Cool completely on wire racks, then decorate cookies as desired.

Yield: about 16 gingerbread men