Fabulous Martha Stewart Bat and Cob Web Cookies

Ingredients


Makes about 30

• 6 cups all-purpose flour (sifted, then measured), plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups unsulfured molasses

Royal Icing Directions

1. Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder together into a large bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat on medium-high speed until fluffy. Beat in ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Beat in eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture.
3. Divide dough into three equal pieces, and flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Print out the bat and cobweb templates found here, and cut them out. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Using templates and a paring knife, cut dough into shapes. Transfer shapes to baking sheets and refrigerate 15 minutes.
5. 5.Bake until crisp but not darkened, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely on wire racks. Decorate with royal icing.

From Halloween 2004, October 2004
 
Extra tips from others on Martha's site:
 
10/30/08 at 9:11 a.m. ET


to make the spider web you start in the center and make a spiral working from the center of the cookie on out towards the edges.Then take a tookpick and put it in the center of the cookie and draw it out towards each point. Then in between each point put the toothpick again at the edge and go towards the center..go luck they come out great!

10/23/08 at 9:50 a.m. ET


It takes a lot of black gel color to get a rich black. One way to achieve it easier and use less gel color is to add cocoa powder first and make your icing dark brown then add a few drops of the black gel color to get to the desired color faster.