Vintage Halloween cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• Powdered sugar, for decorating

Step-by-step preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
4. Add the molasses, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and cloves to the butter mixture and keep beating until well combined.
5. Add the flour mixture in three parts, mixing well after each addition, until a smooth dough forms.
6. Shape the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
7. Take the dough out of the fridge, roll it out and cut out cookies with vintage cutters: pumpkins, ghosts, black cats, bats or any other vintage Halloween shape.
8. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10–12 minutes, until golden at the edges.
9. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a rack to cool completely.
10. Once the cookies are completely cool, it’s time to decorate them with powdered sugar. Put a generous amount in a fine-mesh sieve and dust it gently over the cookies to cover them completely. Let the sugar settle for a few minutes, then shake off the excess.