COURVOISIER GINGERBREAD

A lacing of Courvoisier lifts this classic holiday sweet to an elegant, classy cookie. Because of the luxurious Cognac, these cookies lean to the soft and chewy side rather than the crispy-crunchy type. If you decide to ice the cookies, lace the icing with Courvoisier as well (recipe follows). Now that’s a grown-up cookie!

4 cups (1 L) all-purpose flour

1 tbsp (15 mL) ground ginger

2 tsp (10 mL) ground cinnamon

1 tsp (5 mL) salt

½ tsp (2 mL) each ground allspice, nutmeg and cardamom

1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup (250 mL) lightly packed brown sugar ¼ cup (60 mL) fancy molasses

⅓ cup (80 mL) Courvoisier VS Cognac

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Silver or gold dragées for garnish (optional) Courvoisier Icing Glaze (optional)

1 In a large bowl, stir flour with ginger, cinnamon, salt, allspice, nutmeg and cardamom until evenly blended. In another large bowl, use a wooden spoon to beat butter with sugar until completely dissolved. Beat in molasses, then Courvoisier and eggs, beating in each until incorporated before adding the next. Gradually stir in flour mixture, kneading in the last with your hands. Dough will be soft and sticky.

2 Form dough into 4 balls, then flatten into discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours or up to a week. (They can be frozen up to a month, so long as they are first overwrapped with foil or slipped into freezer bags.)

3 To bake, remove dough from refrigerator and leave on counter until soft enough to easily roll out, about 20 minutes.

4 Preheat oven to 275°F (135°C). 5 Place 1 disc of dough on a piece of parchment paper and cover with a large piece of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll to a ¼-inch (5-mm) thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Place on parchment-paperlined baking sheets, leaving a generous space between each cookie. Add silver or gold dragées for decoration if you wish. Bake until cookies feel dry to the touch and bottoms are just beginning to darken, 25 to 30 minutes. Leave on sheets for 5 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Store in airtight containers in a cool place; they will keep well for a week in the refrigerator or 2 months in the freezer. If desired, ice cookies just before serving. Makes 60 cookies, about 2 inches (5 cm) wide