My mom's gingerbread recipe that I use for houses and cookies

I owe people an apology I guess.  I gave all props to Alton Brown for his sugar cookie recipe as I used it for decorating a gingerbread house.  From the traffic I get here, I think people are looking for Alton Brown's recipe.  To my knowledge, he hasn't published one (though I am sure it would be great).

This is the recipe I usually make:

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of butter, left at room temperature for a few hours.  Not melted in the microwave, this changes the consistency.  My wife swears margarine is unhealthy, so I stopped using it.  But, margarine tends to make a harder cookie if you find the dough too crumby for a gingerbread house.  I definitely use butter for tree ornaments with no problem.

Beat the two together until fully combined.

For eating:

1 tsp of ground cloves

2 tsp of powdered ginger

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of salt

Mix well and fully combine again.  I just leave this mixture in the mixing bowl.

For a gingerbread house, the dough is being used for it's aroma as much as anything.  I double the ginger, cinnamon and cloves.

I use a 2cup Pyrex measuring cup for the next step.

2/3 c. hot strong coffee

2/3 c. molasses

Stir the molasses and coffee together until fully combined.  Then add this to the butter, sugar and spice mixture and mix further.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine

4-3/4c regular flour
1 tsp. soda

I like the dough better when I have sifted it.

I used to add a handful of flour at a time in the mixing bowl, then mix, then add more flour, until I had a solid dough.  I now have a wonderful power mixer with a dough hook, and it works just fine to add a little flour at a time while leaving the dough mixing.

Wrap in saran or put the dough in an airtight container, then chill it for a few hours (though I usually leave it overnight in the fridge).

When ready to bake, take a chunk of dough and knead it until it isn't as stiff and feels uniform.

Set oven to 350.   

I roll the dough out on Baker's Parchment - much easier to pick up and put on the cookie sheet.  No need to grease the sheet either.

Depending in the thickness of the dough, 17 minutes is usually enough.