Gingerbread Cookies

Place the butter, sugar and molasses (or maple syrup) in a medium-sized pot. Heat on medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the butter has melted. Don't worry if the sugar hasn't fully dissolved. Set aside to cool down while preparing the other ingredients.

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt and all the spices (ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves).

Add the freshly grated ginger, lemon zest and melted (and cooled) butter mixture. Using a wooden spoon, mix a little then add the egg. Mix just until combined. Don't overmix the dough. I usually start mixing with a wooden spoon then I knead the dough by hand briefly, before shaping into a disk.

Divide the dough in half and shape into two disks. Wrap well in parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or until firm enough to handle. If you want to speed things up, you can roll out one of the disks between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 6 mm (1/4 inch), before chilling it (fully covered). Be sure to place it on a flat surface, such as a small baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F), conventional setting. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove one of the disks from the refrigerator and place it between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Roll out the cold dough to a thickness of 6 mm (1/4 inch). If you chilled the dough for several hours, you might need to let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before using it, so it's easier to roll out and doesn't crack. Note: If you find that the dough isn't smooth enough when you roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper, you can use flour instead. Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin, before rolling out the dough. I usually avoid this, as adding too much flour will lead to tougher cookies.

Cut out desired shapes and transfer onto prepared baking sheet, placing them about 2.5 cm apart (1 inch). If you are having trouble removing the shapes from the bottom parchment paper, cover again with the top parchment paper. Place a shallow baking sheet on the cookies and carefully flip them over. Gently peel off the parchment paper that was stuck. The cookies should release easily. If not, you might need to chill them longer.

Gather the leftover dough and roll out once more. Cut out shapes. Repeat this until you have used up all the dough. If the dough becomes too soft and hard to handle, chill it again. Try to cut out as many cookies as possible before rolling out the dough again. The more you roll it out, the tougher the cookie will be. Decorating the cookies: If you aren't planning on frosting the cookies, you could press a few mini M&Ms or sprinkle with granulated sugar before baking them.

Bake in the middle rack of the oven until the edges have just set and look slightly darker. This should take about 8 minutes for small cookies and 9 minutes for larger ones. The cookies should be slightly soft when you take them out of the oven. Don't overbake the cookies or they will become hard as they cool down.

Cool down on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack.Make sure the cookies have fully cooled down before decorating or storing in an airtight container.