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Another fun thing we did while on blogging hiatus was make some big ol' gingerbread cookie houses! Mom bought a HUGE house-shaped cookie cutter and we decorated them in all kinds of fun candies!

Yes, I am aware we baked four cookies but only two are shown as being decorated. That would be because I was having a little too much fun eating all of the candy that was supposed to be for decorating. Mom had to put a stop to my candy splurge so we left the other two cookies au naturale. ;-) (Not to worry, they were still delicious even without all of the candy.)

I'll leave you with the gingerbread cookie recipe we used. (We liked it because it wasn't too spicy or overpowering.) Enjoy!

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
3 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine sugar, butter, egg, molasses and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add all remaining cookie ingredients. Beat until well mixed. Divide dough in half; wrap in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate until firm (1 to 2 hours). Heat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface, one-half at a time (keeping remaining dough refrigerated), to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with 4-inch cookie cutter. Place cookies, 1 inch apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes or until set. Let stand 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.