Gingerbread Straws - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup water
12 tablespoons softened butter
1 cup light or dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preparation

Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking soda in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix molasses and water.
In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses mixture, then dry ingredients, to form stiff dough; if dough is sticky, add up to 1/4 cup more flour.
Quarter the dough, form each portion into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be refrigerated up to 1 week or frozen up to 1 month.)
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
On a heavily floured work surface, roll 1 portion of dough into a 9-by-7-inch rectangle. Sprinkle dough with 1 Tb. sugar; use rolling pin to press sugar into dough. Cut dough (preferably with a fluted-edge pastry cutter) into 9-by-1/2-inch sticks. Place sticks about 1/2-inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake on middle rack until done, 18 to 22 minutes; after 10 minutes, rotate sheet from back to front. Repeat with remaining dough in batches.