Lemon Gingerbread Men

How is this month going by so fast?! It feels too early to put up holiday decorations right after Halloween, but the next thing you know it's the middle of November! Maybe that's the normal amount of time for most people to celebrate....but not me :)

To be honest, I didn't have the right ingredients to make these technically "gingerbread" - and while I now know that I could have just used cinnamon alone, I grabbed a lemon. You may be wondering, "Well, why did you do that, Lucy?" and the answer is because when I'm struck with creative fire, I literally cannot see 2 feet in front of my face. If anyone cares, my moon is in Aries and I that speaks for itself.

The base recipe is from Allrecipes, and I've used it hundreds of times for my decorated cookies. It's straight to the point, but most importantly, it uses the right ratio of ingredients so that the shapes don't spread in the oven.

You'll need:
3 sticks of softened butter
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
1 TBSP of vanilla
5 cups of flour
1/2 TSP of baking powder
1 TSP of salt

The great thing about this recipe is that you can adjust the flavors to anything you'd like. So, because I had a lemon, I added lemon zest. My usual go-to is an additional TBSP of almond extract. I've seen dark chocolate versions too, made by adding good cocoa powder to the dry ingredients.

Since I'm DIY-ing most of my holiday decor this year, I'm thinking of uploading a few posts showing my ideas. Centerpieces, garland, ornaments etc...

Until next time!!